Midsummer Sun
by jacksons98
Summary: A Midnight Sun like story with an AU mythological Bella. Loosely follows Twilight only in this story Bella is the mystery. How long would it have taken Edward to figure our that he was falling in love with Bella if Alice hadn't spelled it out for him?
1. Chapter 1

_Yeah, the Cullen's are odd but what was that reaction about?_

Reflex reaction. I turned at the mention of my family. This thought concerned me slightly. Of course it had come from Jessica Stanley so it was probably nothing. But what did she mean? What reaction? I began to listen closer. Monitoring thoughts that suggested people may be becoming aware of our deception was part of my job description as the resident vampire mind reader.

Jessica was sitting with the new girl, Isabella Swan. I recognized Isabella (or Bella as she had told everyone to call her) immediately. I had seen her in numerous thoughts throughout the day. Some sort of tragedy had brought the girl here. Her father had died? I hadn't been interested enough to pay attention to the details. All the students had become instantly obsessed with her. Like infants with a shiny new toy. I guess that in a town this small someone new did constitute something of a novelty. Still a small child with brown hair, brown eyes, and a heart shaped face...she seemed pretty unremarkable to me.

At that moment Isabella looked up as if sensing my gaze. Our eye's met and I realized that whatever else Bella Swan was she was not unremarkable. To begin with the eyes meeting mine resembled no human eyes I had ever seen. Deep Brown, and slightly exotic they were eyes that I had seen in many minds throughout the day. No one however, had picked up on what my enhanced vampire vision noticed immediately. The girls eyes where incredibly bright. As if they didn't just take light in like the rest of us but where somehow emitting it. The eyes were also very expressive. It was easy to see what she was thinking. In fact it was easy to see that she hated me. Disgust and loathing where written clearly in those eyes. And maybe a deeper level of fear? The girl dropped her eyes to hide their expression from me and let her long hair fall in front of her face. I didn't understand that look. Was it possible that she could somehow be aware of what we are? I needed more information and that is when the greatest shock of all hit me. I realized that while her eyes spoke quite clearly I couldn't hear her mind at all. It was like trying to see through a brick wall.

My family over the years had developed a multitude of creative ways of keeping me out of their heads. Alice could recite mind-numbing treatises in multiple languages when she was trying to block me. And Emmett's had learned that thinking of his time with Rosalie would not only force me to withdraw mentally but sometimes physically as well. But never had I met with absolute silence. I tried harder. Nothing. Was she somehow managing to not think at all? Her brain frozen with the fear I had seen in her eyes? It didn't seem likely.

Normally I would have asked Jasper about what she was feeling. The hope being that he might have some insight into her emotional state since my mind reading was failing to give any clues. However, today was one of _those_ days for Jasper. He hadn't hunted for almost two weeks and was now having a hard enough time just not killing anyone. He didn't need anything else to worry about.

I focused all my attention on the conversation the children were having with the new girl. Spearheaded by Jessica Stanley, a particularly shallow and annoying human, they where relaying all the Cullen gossip. Through Jessica's eyes I could see that the girl looked almost bored with the story. Even slightly amused by Jessica's scandalized version of our home life. The obvious amusement in Bella's eyes spiked as Jessica told her about my non-dating status and how I apparently thought myself too good for the girls of Forks. The girl had an oddly knowing look on her face as she listened. Almost as if she could hear the shallow child's mind as well as I could and knew the petty jealousy underlying most of the comments. Bella's thoughts where so clear in her eyes I was surprised that even the unobservant Stanly girl wasn't aware that she was being subtly laughed at.

As I observed I tried to talk myself out of my concern. I must be over-reacting I decided. If my siblings were to be believed, that was hardly unusual for me. Perhaps she had only picked up on our inherent "otherness" more quickly then the other children. Her conversation with Jessica seemed to show that she was unusually intuitive. And eventually weren't they all afraid of us? Maybe she had been reacting to something else entirely...

"Jessica Stanley is giving the new Swan girl all the dirt on the Cullen clan," I murmured to Emmett as a distraction.

He chuckled under his breath. _I hope she's making it good, _he thought.

"Rather unimaginative, actually. Just the barest hint of scandal. Not an ounce of horror. I'm a little disappointed."

_And the new girl? Is she disappointed in the gossip as well?_

_"_I think,... She thinks its funny."

Emmett raised his eyebrows. _You think?_

I looked away and shrugged. I wasn't quite prepared to discuss my possible failure with Emmett. Teasing was something of a strong point for Emmett and not taking it well was unfortunately a strong point of mine. No point in giving him ammunition unnecessarily. Until I was more certain of a possible threat, I was keeping my mouth shut.

Frustrated by both the new girls mind block, and the unexplained fear and anger I had seen in her eyes, I said goodbye to my family and uneasily made my way to my physical sciences class.

I settled into my desk just as the new girl walked in. I was oddly happy that she would be in my class. Usually such a thing wouldn't have interested me in the least but in this case I wanted the opportunity to study her more, possibly ferret out some of her secrets. My interest was heightened as I realized that she would be sitting next to me. The humans tended to naturally shy away from my family and I. On some level they recognized instinctively that were dangerous, even if they would never allow themselves to believe it rationally. In this case it meant that no-one had chosen to sit with me leaving the other seat at my table the only empty one in the class. I felt a little sorry for the girl. Sitting with me would be uncomfortable for her. Especially if she really had recognized that something about us was off...

That was my last rational thought. Afterward I was never quite sure how I made it through the rest of the hour. The second I smelled Isabella Swan it became almost impossible to retain even a vestige of humanity and not give into the monster. The physical and mental anguish of sitting next to the sweetest blood that could possibly be had on Earth was indescribable. I wanted the girls blood more fiercely than I had ever wanted anything in my entire existence. Three things had stopped the monster - but only just.

First, I thought of Carlisle. How disappointed he would be and what this choice would mean to my family. Second, as I realized that I was giving in, I began to make twisted deals with myself. Just wait I begged the monster. Then only the girl will have to die. I knew she could easily be found after school. This would spare the classroom full of innocent children and would have the advantage of allowing me to take my time with the girl, savor her blood. My third deterrent was strange but also the most potent. It was the girl herself. She was no longer afraid. In fact if I was reading her right she was furious. Instead of shrinking back from my black eyed glare like a normal human; the girls strange luminous eyes beamed aggressively at me with fiery anger. Just outside the classroom, the drizzly rainstorm intensified to a dramatic lightning storm as if to underscore our silent battle. The lightning was right on top of the small classroom and bizarrely frequent. Logically I knew that the strangely intense storm was a coincidence but some deep instinct of mine kept trying to tie it to the odd girl. I could see the promise of retribution plainly written in her eyes as we stared off for the entire class period. Strangely even knowing that she was merely a weak human, even knowing that it was completely irrational, on some level I believed the promise of those eyes. The monster stayed put.

I left the classroom at close to inhuman speed; escaping into the clean air and welcome sanity. I hid in my car noticing that the strange lightning storm had ended almost as abruptly as it had started. I waited out the last hour and then for my family to pile into my car before jerking the car out of the parking lot at an unseemly speed.

"What is wrong with you?" Rosalie hissed as the car lurched around the corner.

Beside me Alice gasped as we both watched a vision rise in her mind. Me in a dark car heading down a snowy high-way.

"Your leaving?" she whispered.

All my siblings stared at me.

"Am I?" I hissed through my teeth.

The snowy road in Alice's vision vanished and we both gasped. My future had disappeared. It was as though I had ceased to exist. I knew that it was my decision to pursue the girl that had changed the vision and my irrational fear of the child resurfaced. Both Alice and Jasper where staring at me in confusion. Jasper because he didn't understand the strange feeling of foreboding in me and Alice because she was worried about the odd non-vision. I ignored their silent questions. I was too close to the edge for sharing time and even under normal circumstances I would not have wanted to try and explain to my family why I might be afraid of a human child. The vision shifted back and we could both see that I would be leaving down the dark road again. Alice didn't even bother questioning me. She could already see in her odd ever present reality that I wouldn't answer her.

"I'll miss you," she said. "Drop us hear and just leave." Alice was scared enough of the future-less vision that she decided having me safely driving away on the snowy road was far more important than keeping up appearances or getting a ride home. My siblings quickly exited the car. Years of living with Alice was enough to make them do so without question. I hit the accelerator and flew out of town towards Alaska. Away from the girl. Away from the nothingness of Alice's vision.

**__**

I had been gone for five days when my phone rang in Denali. I had gotten over my pride and had a talk with Alice earlier in the week concerning the Swan girl and apparently Alice had decided to do some investigating on her own.

Alice was talking excitedly at vampire speed "She didn't end your future Edward. I just can't see her future anymore than you can read her mind. When you decided to" Alice hesitated over her words, she didn't want to throw my weakness in my face, "mix your future with hers" she continued

"everything went blank. I don't know why but she seems to be immune to our talents." Alice paused, "Jazz can still sense her emotions though. He's a little smug about that." She pouted.

"You can't see anything?" I asked stunned.

"No, and you should come home now." This she said a little more hesitantly. Alice was smart enough to know that just having one element of the mystery solved didn't mean that I had the will-power to not attack the child. Then as if Alice recognized what her hesitation suggested she said with more confidence "You can do it Edward. You have more self control than anyone I know."

I wanted to believe it. I missed being with my family and Tanya was making my stay with the Denali coven a little uncomfortable. It wasn't intentional on her part but her continued feelings created an unpleasant tenseness between us. Mostly though I was tired of hiding. Up here in the clean air of the mountains, and stuffed to the point of bursting with animal blood, it seemed difficult to believe that the girls siren blood could be so irresistible. And frankly my nebulous fears of the girl seemed completely ridiculous.

"Yeah!," Alice exclaimed "you _are_ coming home." She was right I had made a decision.


	2. Chapter 2

W_e walked into the rundown cafeteria in a close group. Rosalie and Emmett led the way, Emmett looking ridiculously like a bodyguard in the middle of hostile territory. Rose looked wary, too, but much more irritated than protective. (__Midnight Sun__ Stephanie Meyer) _Alice and Jasper were almost as much on edge as I was myself. Alice because she was irritated at her lack of sight and Jasper because our extreme emotions were getting to him.

I spotted the girl immediately. We had come slightly late to lunch still arguing if it was wise for me to be in school at all. She was in the middle of a large group of children sitting together at a center table. She looked tired. I could see in the other children's minds at the table that dark circles ringed her eyes. Coupled with her unusually pale skin, the tired eyes made her look almost like one of us. Multiple conversations floated around the table, none of which she was taking part in. Somehow, despite her disinterest it was obvious that she was the center of an apex that everyone else in the group revolved around. The girl seemed amused by the conversations but also aloof from them. The focal point and yet somehow disconnected.

_"_What's with your car Bella? Somehow it just doesn't seem to be you." Lauren Malory suddenly asked, her mind filled with malice. Lauren had been trying to reconcile Bella's lackluster wardrobe of mainly jeans and T's with Bella's expensive car all week. The two seemed a contradiction to Lauren's shallow mind and they were making it difficult for her to neatly label Bella's socio-economic background. To some extent Lauren was truly curious, but mostly the question had to do with her jealousy of the new girl. Lauren thought that the car must have belonged to Bella's recently deceased Father and that by bringing it up she might inflict pain, force the new girl to show some vulnerability. I suddenly found myself oddly concerned for Bella. Would the comment hurt her? What an odd random thought. Why should I care?

The girl didn't look distressed. Her amusement deepened and the knowing look returned. I doubted that she had missed the snide undertone of Lauren's question. The girl stopped eating, and stared down at Lauren, seeming to debate whether or not the question was worth the trouble of a reply. After a moment She must have decided that it wasn't as she turned and resumed eating.

The reaction at the table was varied. Mike Newton, a generic boy I had never cared for, snickered under his breath. Lauren sat fuming. Angela, one of the nicer children in this town, tried to smooth things over. "It's a very nice car." she said timidly.

The girl smiled genuinely at Angela and with a shrug replied, "Thank you". She then continued as if it had been Angela who had asked about the car and not Lauren "My mother comes from a very wealthy...family. Most of the time I think they forget I exist. Occasionally when they remember me, the result is something like the car."

"Wow, I wish I had a mother who would ignore me and then send me a car every so often." Mike Newton said with a huge smile for Bella. His thoughts were somewhat proprietary regarding the girl which bothered me for some reason that I couldn't identify. I vaguely wondered why she had hesitated over the word family. Everyone at the table burst into laughter except the girl who grimaced slightly and looked away directly into my eyes.

The grimace was gone replaced with flaring anger. I was the one who flinched back. My family who had been paying far too good of attention noticed and shared silent smiles. _You okay kid?_ Emmet questioned trying not to laugh.

_You look sick bro _was Jasper's amused comment. _She really loathes you. I can feel it. _Jasper was being smug again.

"Let's just sit down" I muttered.

I spent the rest of lunch period ease dropping on the center table. I had been searching all day for a change in the atmosphere regarding the Cullens. So far I had found nothing unusual in any of the humans thoughts. Their conversations were as mundane as ever. "So what is the verdict?" Emmet asked quietly. "What has she said about us?"

"I don't think she has said anything" I replied. "No one seems to be thinking of us at all." Was it possible that she had really not confided in anyone? She seemed to have plenty of friends.

"Weird" Emmet said.

"Hmmm" I replied non-committedly as the strange unease began to surface again. Jasper sent a wave of calm my way. I didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed with him. In some ways I had to admit the situation was funny. Was it only a week ago that I had been complaining that school was dull? Now here I found myself more keyed-up than I could remember having been for years. I was uneasy, confused, and fighting to keep the monster fettered. But I definitely wasn't bored. My mind went round and round trying to understand the girl and what her reactions meant. Physically she was attractive, but not unusually so. Petite, slim, with long brown hair, and pale skin, her small face was dominated by her odd eyes. The eyes where undeniably pretty. Too large for her face though. They made her face more interesting than beautiful. Most intriguing was the sense of strength about her. The way her small form demanded attention. I would have thought it was just me, a side effect of her siren blood, but no even the humans obviously felt it. I couldn't focus on anything else and neither could they. Like an old time movie star she dominated the screen. Charisma possibly? I couldn't define the quality.

"Weird" Emmet suddenly repeated "Her eyes do glow".

"Stop staring at her." I growled turning around to endure the rest of lunch hour.

I left early for science. I wanted to be in place and inhale as much clean air as possible before the girl arrived. Jasper thought that I should skip class all together but I had a plan to make it through the hour. I would use the clean air I had saved in my lungs to introduce myself and wish the girl a good day or say something else equally inane until my breath ran out. Hopefully, if I was pleasant enough, I could start to reverse Bella's negative opinion of me. Then I would pretend to pay rigid attention to the lecture and not breath for the rest of the class. Simple.

Unfortunately for the plan the girl was late. Mr. Banner had already started his lecture when she arrived. "Take you seat please" Mr. Banner ordered. He was obviously annoyed at the interruption. I expected the girl to be hesitant about sitting next to me but she surprised me again taking her seat quickly as if I didn't exist.

I felt oddly regretful about my missed opportunity to talk to the girl. I hadn't realized how much I had been looking forward to that part of the plan. Why was talking to her so important? Was I really that eager to begin to smooth things over? Of course it did involve my family's safety, always a top priority. But still my degree of let down seemed disproportionate to the importance of the situation. Suddenly I realized the real problem. I wanted to talk to her because I was interested in her. Everything about her was an enigma and after years of everything being the same I was quickly becoming fascinated with this child. Jasper had been right. There really was no good reason to attend this class. It was pointless and probably very dangerous. I had lied to myself that coming to class was good for my family. Really I admitted to myself, I had just wanted to talk to the girl. Uncover some of the mystery. I was being very selfish but I decided right then to make a change. Today would be my last day at Forks High. From here on out I would stay far away from anything having to do with the girl.

"To make it easy, your partner will be the person you are sitting with. Please take the last few minutes of class to begin discussing your project" Mr Banner finished his lecture and sat down.

Wait. What? I had been so absorbed in my own thoughts that I realized I had not heard a word of Mr Banner's lecture. Fortunately, one of the nice things (and sometimes not so nice things) about being a vampire is that even if you are not consciously paying attention your brain will still memorize all the information around you. I quickly replayed the last forty minutes in my head on fast forward. Bella Swan I realized had just been made my partner in our latest science project. Together we were to build a contraption using a maximum amount of simple machines, (levers, pulleys, etc.) that would ultimately squish a grape. My mind panicked as I realized I would have to spend what was left of the hour working with the girl. Wait, I thought frantically, its okay, I have a plan. Remember the plan..

I turned directly to the girl "Hello, I'm Edward Cullen. I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan" I had chosen my opening line before class so I managed to produce it even in my panicked state. It didn't come out sounding charming and human like I had envisioned though. I was too keyed up. I mentally took a deep breath and gave the girl a careful smile. "It looks like where going to be partners".

The girl had looked up when I started talking. An odd expression crossed her face as she looked at me. Something about my face had distracted her. I doubted that she had heard any of my words. I realized that she was staring at my eyes. Not in them, _at_ them. It was the same look Carlisle wore when examining a patient. A crease formed between her brows. I was confused too. Why would my eyes be frustrating her? What was so interesting about them? For a moment She stared more intently. I was getting uncomfortable. An odd sensation. It was always the humans that couldn't stand to look us in the eye. For the first time in my existence I was about to be the first to look away when she finally stopped staring. Then for a moment I thought the girl was going to do the normal thing and turn away herself but instead she made real eye contact with me and flatly stated "You know my name."

I wasn't sure how to take that so I stated the obvious "I think that everyone knows your name. Its not often this school gets a new student." I had to rush the last sentence to get it out before I ran out of breath.

"I see, you couldn't _help_ knowing." was her scornful reply. She paused and then with a thin smile asked "Well _partner, _how do you wish to proceed?" unlike Jessica Stanley the subtle sarcasm underlying the words was not lost on me. Irrationally it stung a little. Perhaps being unaware and self delusional wasn't such a bad thing after all.

She was waiting for a reply, brown translucent eyes mocking me. This was definitely not part of the plan but I wanted to answer her unstated challenge even if I didn't really understand it. I leaned as far away from her as it was possible in the small confines of the table, locked down all of my muscles, and sucked in a quick breath through my mouth. Fiery pain ripped through me. The monster wanted out so desperately. I could hear the strain in my voice as I ground out "I would be happy to complete the project."

It was a slip. She had definitely noticed the change in my demeanor. The mocking face was gone and the intent examination face was back. She quickly controlled it though and replaced it with what... a poker face? Emmet still occasionally tried to use one to trick me, as if I didn't know exactly what he was thinking...Ironic under the circumstances that she would be the first person who could actually pull one on me. "What, your not going to let me play too?" came the mocking voice.

"I thought you might not wish to er...play" I replied a little on the defensive. I knew from their thoughts that most of the children would have been happy to let someone else do the assignment for them. Of course Bella would be the exception.

"Oh no, were partners." she replied with mock solemnity. And then in the most neutral voice yet "Why don't we both draft a design tonight and we can compare ideas tomorrow.

"Sounds reasonable", I said, trying to sound reasonable myself. I was simultaneously fighting the monster and trying not to panic with the sudden realization that in the last minute I had essentially committed myself to coming to school for at least as long as it would take to complete the project. I felt a little helpless staring at her. It was as if she where my own personal demon sent to destroy everything I had hoped to make of myself. As if the words where forced out of me I demanded of the girl "why did you come here?"

Apparently my question was funny. It surprised a sharp laugh from Bella. "Wouldn't a better question be why are you here?"

My unease spiked up to true concern. What did she mean? What did she know about us? I answered cautiously "I moved here with my Family two years ago. My Father is a Doctor at the hospital here in Forks."

A lot of lying is an unfortunate part of being what we are, one I have never much cared for. To somewhat avoid the lies we have all perfected the art of half truths. Carlisle's job at the hospital was not the reason my family and I had moved to Forks but by mentioning them together most people would connect the two and assume causation.

"Yes, I keep forgetting the two years, I don't understand that part. But I'm supposed to believe that you moved here because your ah..._Father _couldn't be a Doctor anywhere else?

I was puzzled about her odd answer. I couldn't even begin to understand what she meant by the first sentence. Or what the underlying hostility could mean. And what was she implying about Carlisle as my father? Does she have some issue with adoption? Had it simply been insensitive of me to mention Fathers when hers was recently deceased? Or maybe...could she really be on to us? I was also reluctantly impressed by how quickly she had recognized an disregarded my attempt to mislead her.

"My mother likes small towns" I replied. It was our standard answer when someone questioned why a Doctor as brilliant as Carlisle would choose to practice in a small town like Forks. "And we all like the weather."

I was appalled at myself. Why had I said that? My answer was as close to telling the truth about our choice of habitation as I had ever come. I realized that it was because I wanted to tell this strange child the truth. Or maybe it was more correct to say that I didn't want to lie to her. I really didn't understand myself today.

Bella looked genuinely shocked "How could anyone like this weather?" It was the first normal response I had heard from the girl. Maybe my slip was a good thing.

"You don't like the cold?" I asked remembering that Bella had come here to cold wet Forks from the heat of Phoenix Arizona.

"Or the wet" she replied definitively with a small grimace.

"Then why did you come here?" I repeated my question, now genuinely interested.

"It's complicated" she hedged.

"I think I can keep up" I insisted. My curiosity was becoming almost as strong as my thirst. I vaguely wondered if I would find any person with a closed mind this fascinating or if it had something to do with the girl herself. I also wondered if I was flattering myself that I could keep up. Most of our conversation had baffled me so far.

"My Father was killed and Uncle Charlie offered to take me in." she said this almost flippantly. I could tell she was hiding something but I was at a loss to know what. Pain possibly?

That didn't seem very complicated to me. Sad perhaps. "I'm sorry for your loss" I said looking into her eyes wanting to convey my sincere sympathy. I immediately regretted the impulse as her luminous eyes flashed into mine with an almost blinding light of intense furry. And then I felt it. It was only a minor stab, but it was actual physical pain. The bell rang ending the hour and it was like a replay of last weeks science class only reversed. Bella broke eye contact, the pain ceased, and she was up and out the door before I had to time to process what had just happened. Even at vampire speed.

**_**

It was about three in the morning. I was lying in my room listening to loud dissonant music, a technique I often used to drown out the thoughts of my family. Tonight though, I was trying to drown out my own thoughts. It wasn't working. My thoughts where uncomfortable enough. It didn't help that I was also physically uncomfortable. I had spent the last eight hours hunting with Alice and Jasper and had glutted myself on animal blood. A small once of prevention that would probably prove futile tomorrow as I sat next to the girl.

I knew from personal experience, and also from listening to the minds of others, that emotional distress could cause a sensation that was very close to real physical pain. I also knew that despite how much I wished to believe otherwise, emotional pain was not what I had felt in science class today. Somehow the girl had made me feel real pain just by looking at me.

Such a thing wasn't unheard of. Well not in the vampire world anyway. Carlisle had told me stories of his time spent with the Volturi. The Volturi was something like a vampire royalty, and a virtual collection of vampire talent. One of the members of the Volturi was a small vampire named Jane. Carlisle said that Jane could induce debilitating pain in others just by focusing on them. It was a mind trick. There was no true physical damage done to the victim, but that didn't make the experience any less torturous. Could Bella have a talent similar to Jane's? Only in a latent, less dangerous human form? What had made her so angry anyway? About one thing I was certain. I would definitely not be mentioning anything to do with fathers to her again.

Sighing, I got up. I had a science project to get started on. And even with everything that had happened I realized that I still wanted to do well on my design. If the girl was going to risk her life to be my science partner the least I could do was ensure that she got a good grade.


	3. Chapter 3

I was oddly impatient for school to begin. I had finished my project an hour earlier and was uncharacteristically pleased with it. I hadn't expended this much energy on a mere school project for...well...I wasn't sure that I had ever tried this hard. I felt my design was complex, yet clean, and that it had a nice Rube Goldbergesque feel to it.

I was trying to ignore my siblings. They had been in rare teasing form all night. Jasper had picked up on my unusual interest in a school assignment and things had gone down hill from there. Rosalie had been the most malicious and also the most perceptive. "Trying to impress someone Edward?" she sneered. Was I, I wondered? It occurred to me that there might be more truth in her question than I was comfortable with. I decided not to think about it. Rosalie was a little angry with me. She didn't care for change and things were still unsettled. I assumed she would get over it. With Rosalie it just took time.

I spent the school day watching Bella through the eyes of others, barely aware of my own surroundings. I hadn't intended to. Originally I had only meant to locate her. I wanted to make sure that I didn't come upon her unawares or unprepared. First thing in the morning I had found Bella helping a freshman who had tripped and dropped all her books in a mud puddle just outside the parking lot. Jessica who was with Bella at the time had originally laughed at the girl but had stopped abruptly after getting a flash of anger from Bella's eyes. I was not surprised that the looked quelled Jessica. Having been on the receiving end of Bella's anger I knew the potency.

Bella had helped the girl up. Restored her books to her after cleaning them off as best she was able and then most importantly had made the freshman girl feel better about the whole incident by laughing it off with her. And the good deeds hadn't stopped there. Bella had gone quietly about helping others in small ways and without any fanfare throughout the morning. I watched as Bella caught a shy girl, who was seldom noticed by her peers staring. The girl instantly turned away embarrassed but instead of turning herself Bella calmly waited for the girl to glance back. When she did Bella flashed the shy girl a brilliant smile. Caught off guard the shy child had timidly smiled back. I was a little jealous of the shy girl. I would like to be a recipient of Bella's smile.

As the morning wore on I realized that for the most part Bella was universally kind. Good even. This shocked me. Between her reactions to myself and to her so called friends I had begun to think of the girl as being somewhat unpleasant. It made me uncomfortable to realize as I watched her that it was only myself and people like Lauren Mallory that she was uncivil too. I didn't like the idea of the girl lumping me in the same category as Lauren Mallory, I felt I deserved better than that. Of course I reminded myself that wasn't true. Lauren may be hateful, but hardly the true to life nightmare that I represented.

At lunch I finally got to take a look at the girl for myself. She was tired again. I could see the black rings around her eyes, deeper than the day before. If she were a vampire I would assume she hadn't eaten in weeks. Bella hadn't bothered getting any lunch but instead had gone directly to her table and was now resting her head lethargically on her arms. Angela had noticed the difference in the girl as well "_I hope Bella isn't getting sick_" she was thinking. Was she getting sick? Concerned I began tabulating possible illnesses in my head only to realize that it was a fruitless effort. "Tired" I realized feeling a little foolish is a possible symptom for almost every ailment known to man.

The girl slept throughout most the lunch hour. She may have gone on sleeping if Angela had not gently shook her awake a minute before the bell rang. I wasn't sure if this made me grateful or angry. Even though I knew I shouldn't feel this way, I didn't really want to miss my time in science class with the girl. On the other hand she really looked like she could use the sleep. Bella jerked awake at Angela's touch and quickly swung around to look directly at our table. I made eye contact for the first time that day wondering why she looked so panicked.

"Something is wrong" Jasper whispered too low for a human to hear. "She is really afraid."

Last night while hunting, I had told Alice and Jasper of the odd conversation I had had with Bella. Jasper wasn't happy about it. He felt Bella's words strongly hinted that she might know something. He hated that neither Alice nor I could confirm it.

I wasn't entirely certain why, but I had omitted telling Jasper and Alice about the pain. I would have liked to discuss that part with Carlisle but unfortunately he had been on a shift at the hospital all night. I knew that both Jasper and Alice were seriously beginning to consider the possibility of leaving Forks. Nobody in the family would be happy to leave this rainy little town (especially Rosalie) but I had to admit we had moved for less. Moving would definitely be a relief for Alice. Having a blind spot was proving very stressful for my usually all knowing sister. To be honest not knowing was something of a stress for the entire family. It was odd how we had come to take something as extraordinary as Alice's gift for granted. I imagined that it was similar to what a human might feel suddenly going blind after a lifetime of seeing.

I didn't want to leave though. I knew that it was selfish of me. I knew that leaving was probably for the best. But I truly hated the idea of leaving the mystery of Isabella Swan behind. My curiosity was becoming a gnawing ache strong enough to rival my thirst. Everything about the girl was a puzzle and really just fascinating. Perhaps that was why I had only wanted to discuss the pain with Carlisle. My father had one of the quickest and most inquisitive minds I had ever come across. I think in his own way Carlisle was as intrigued with the enigma of Bella Swan as I was myself. I also knew that he would be the least likely to recommend we leave Forks just because we had come across something that we didn't understand.

Tensely my siblings discussed what the girl's fear could mean while I watched her get up and leave the lunch room. "I'm going to class." I announced suddenly interrupting their discussion. I jumped up and headed out before my siblings could react or stop me. I was resolved. If we were leaving Forks, I was going to spend this one last class period with the girl.

**__**

I was glad Jasper was not in my science class. I didn't even want to think about how he would react to my roller coaster ride of emotions. Of course there was the unavoidable hunger. And the fear of loosing control. But I was nervous for other reasons as well. Bella and I had ignored each other before class. Not that I had wanted to ignore the girl. I just couldn't think of any way to bridge the gap from the events of yesterday. I felt sad knowing this could very likely be the last time I ever saw the girl and frustrated knowing that I was wasting time worrying instead of trying to unravel more of the mystery. I finally resolved to speak with the girl at least one last time before the end of class. Making the decision I felt a strange jittery excitement sweep trough me. I could barely wait for Mr. Banner to finish his lecture. I would talk to the girl. I had the perfect excuse. I would show her my design.

"Get started" Mr Banner said, once again designating the last few minutes of class for working on our projects. Finally_._

I had been holding my breath the entire hour waiting for this moment. I smiled my "human" smile at the girl and asked "Were you able to work on the assignment?" I may be anxious to show her my project, but it was still gentlemanly to ask about hers first. I noticed that Bella was wearing her poker face again. I briefly wondered if that would be all I would get from her today. I wouldn't be surprised if she ignored me completely.

"Of course." she answered my question coolly. "You?"

Excited, I handed her the high quality, computer generated blueprint I had created using Esme's professional drafting software. In return the girl dug in her bag and handed me her project on a crumpled half torn off piece of notebook paper. I smiled in amusement at the messy paper as she passed it to me. I was already anticipating her reaction to my design.

Still smiling, I glanced down to study the girls paper mostly out of courtesy. Hopefully there would be something in her plan that could be incorporated into my own design. I wanted Bella to feel like an important part of our team. If I was around long enough for it to matter at all anyway. I was a little curious to see what this strange child had written. Even a small window into her closed mind was of interest.

Well the paper solved the mystery of the girls fatigue. "You must have been up all night working on this." I gasped.

"No" she replied looking surprised. "I just threw it together over dinner. Sorry its such a mess."

I realized she wasn't lying. I could even smell the residue of her dinner on the paper. Chicken and green beans. And the messy strokes of the pen lines seemed to suggest they had been created in a hurry. But could it be possible? To say her design was better than mine was like saying the drop in the river behind our house was a smaller waterfall than Niagara Falls. True, but also a ridiculous understatement. My assignment was not even in the same league as Bella's.

At first glance I hadn't thought Bella's design would work. Not unless the girl had discovered a way to defy gravity. After quickly recalculating the math that was scrawled into the margins (a mixture of physics and calculus I would never have thought a high school child capable of) I realized that apparently she could defy gravity. But it wasn't really the math that astounded me. (Even though I now assumed I was lab partners with a future famous physicist.) It was the creativity. The design was clever and unpredictable. Mathematically ingenious but also charming and artistic. They should make her design into one of those new gum ball machines. People would spend every quarter they owned watching it over and over. I knew I would and I couldn't even eat the gum.

"This isn't bad." the girl said after a moment of looking over my paper. Right.

"No really" she said seeing my expression. "We should use your design...It's the better choice."

"Thats absurd" I replied. "My design doesn't even compare to yours."

"Oh I didn't say that your design was better. I said it was the better choice." was her cryptic answer.

"But...I would like to build yours. Its amazing." I admitted.

Bella looked away for a moment seeming to contemplate my words. "It might get attention." She finally answered. She said this slowly, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to say it at all. Bella turned and looked me directly in the eyes "Do you want attention?" she demanded.

No, of course not. That was practically my family motto. Do well, but not too well. Stay off the radar. Never attract attention. Mr. Banner wasn't unusually bright for a human. I didn't know if he would recognize the brilliance of Bella's design or not. But if he did, and if it went public, as her lab partner I might be forced to share some of the spotlight. It would be a foolish risk for me to take. Bella shouldn't have had to be the one to think of that. It should have been obvious to me. How did she even know that I couldn't risk the exposure?

"We will use your design" Bella said with her knowing smile. Apparently I was as transparent to the girl as everyone else seemed to be. Maybe she was a mind reader too. I would believe about anything at this point.

"We need to get some supplies" Bella stated. Having made a decision she was all business now. "Is there a time you could meet me to do that?"

I had been shallowly breathing through my nose only when necessary our entire conversation. Even with that precaution my control was tenuous at best. I knew I should turn her down. Offer to pick up the supplies myself. Alice would be happy to do it for me if I asked her to. Instead I flashed my crooked smile and replied "Whenever it would be convenient for you" recklessly throwing caution to the wind.

Bella rewarded me with the first real smile I had received from her. Ironic that the first sign of approval I had from the girl came from irresponsibly agreeing to do something that would put her life in danger. The smile transformed the the girl's face, making her eyes even brighter than usual. Bella was prettier than I had originally given her credit for. "Tomorrow after school?" she asked "I could meet you at Ace Hardware."

"I will be there" I stated firmly. I knew it was wrong, but I was going to be in class tomorrow and I was going to meet Bella at the hardware store. Let the chips fall where they may.

The final bell rang signaling the end of our conversation. "See you tomorrow" she said as she gathered up her books.

"Tomorrow" I agreed.


	4. Chapter 4

I had no intention of deceiving my family so that evening before Carlisle left for the hospital I told them everything that had happened with the girl so far.

"Well that settles it" Jasper said after I had finished. Jasper tended to be a quick decision maker when it came to protecting our family, especially regarding Alice. To him my story had made our course of action clear. "Where do we want to move this time?"

"I'm not leaving." I replied calmly.

"We don't have a choice Edward." Jasper replied a little sharply. He was getting annoyed with me. He could feel my resolve to stay and it was confusing and irritating him. "We don't know what the human knows" he argued. "Or what she will do." he added. "It would be stupid to risk exposure when we don't need to."

Jasper could feel that I wasn't budging. He began trying to explain things to me as if I were a four year old child refusing to come in after dark. "It will be easy to disappear." he coaxed. "Its not like we haven't done this before. And then you won't have to worry about hurting the girl anymore and Alice won't have to worry about not being able to see your future. We can find a nice quiet place to move and in a month or so it will be like none of this ever happened." He said the part about Alice not worrying anymore as if that were the clincher. For Jasper it probably was.

_Moron_ "Jasper's right" Rosalie agreed glaring at me. "We don't have a choice. Stop being difficult Edward. This is all your fault anyway. The least you could do....."

"Maybe we do have a choice" Carlisle said thoughtfully breaking into Rosalie's rant. My Father had listened quietly to my explanation while simultaneously studying the girls impressive design. I had recreated her work from memory to show my family. It was the only way I felt they could truly grasp how amazing it was. Carlisle especially was fascinated with it. He had been going over and over it in his mind while I talked. "I wonder..." he said slowly thinking aloud. "when Bella suggested they avoid getting noticed was it really Edward she was thinking about? Is it be possible that shes the one who wants to avoid attention?"

"Why would you think that?" Emmet asked surprised.

"Well...why would someone with a mind like Bella's be attending high school?" Carlisle questioned motioning to Bella's project. "I would guess that just based on this design alone any college in the nation would admit her....Some might even be willing to hire her." He added jokingly with a small smile. "I can only think of one reason for her to be here and its the same as ours.

"Shes hiding." I said, finishing Carlisle's thought. It seemed obvious now that he had mentioned it. I was surprised I hadn't realized it myself.

"That's insane" Jasper replied after a stunned moment. _Shes just a little girl._ "What could she possibly be hiding from?"

"But _is_ she just a little girl?" I asked turning to my brother. "Think about it." I reasoned. "That first day, when I almost killed her, She should have been terrified...but she wasn't. She was angry. And yesterday...the pain I felt when we talked about her Father? It was real. How did she do that? And her design is the work of a genius. Any of us could do the math, but could we create the math? I don't think I could."

"And her eyes glow" Emmet injected. "That's weird."

"So what are you suggesting?" Jasper demanded. _We know shes human_.

"I'm not sure." I admitted. "And believe me, I know she is human. That's half the problem...for me anyway. Its just, I wonder if she is also something more? If that were true, Carlisle would be right. She would have as much reason to avoid attention as we do."

"What more is there?" Esme asked. Her thoughts were growing concerned with this possible threat to our family.

"There are more than just vampires out there." Carlisle said thoughtfully. "I do have one idea. A rumor I once heard." Carlisle was thinking of his time with the Volturri. Some story one of the guards had told him. "Let me do some research. It may be nothing, but I will let you know what I find."

"Maybe we should do some research on the girl herself." Alice suddenly suggested. "She didn't just appear out of thin air. Jazz why don't you see what you can find out about Bella on the Internet?"

"Didn't her father just die?" Rosalie asked. She was feeling a bit better about the situation now that it seemed more likely that we could stay in Forks. "That would probably be a good place to start."

"That is a good idea." Carlisle agreed with Alice. "Jasper and Edward, why don't you both see what you can find out tonight. I need to leave for the hospital soon, but I would like to see what you have found in the morning. Have a good night everyone." He added with a smile for all of us. Without needing to discuss it, Esme and Carlisle wandered off to spend Carlisle's last few minutes at home together. Emmet and Rosalie wandered off too. I tried not to think about what they would probably be doing.

Jasper and I set up on the computers with Alice on a third working on some clothing designs. Rosalie was right. We found the notice of Bella's fathers death without any problem. From their it was relatively easy to trace backwards trough Bella's short life. We found that Bella and her father had moved a lot. Even more than we did. Overall we didn't find much but what we did find definitely had a theme.

Bella was always mentioned in some article in conjunction with almost having done something very impressive. She was mentioned as a runner up in an impressive collection of spelling bees, math contests, science fairs, writing contests, chess championships, sporting events, etc. The most telling footage we found was of a chess match she had competed in at only five years old. Having blown away the competition in the preliminary matches the judges were anticipating a huge upset with Bella as the new favorite to win. A reporter sensing a great human interest story in the making had filmed almost an entire semi-finalist match between Bella and the fifteen year old chess champion from the year before.

Bella's chess play was precocious to say the least for a five year old but what really caught mine and Jasper's attention was Bella's father. Her father didn't have the happy proud face one would expect a human parent to wear when their child was doing something amazing. Instead he looked upset and he glanced so many times at the reporter and camera that you would think he had a nervous tick. Anytime Bella made a particularly brilliant move his hand would jerk spasmodically toward Bella as if he wished to physically drag her away from the game. It was obvious that Bella had the game wrapped up when her father finally caught her eye. They stared at each other for a moment seeming to have some silent discussion and finally he shook his head at Bella almost imperceptibly. _That is exactly how Edward and Alice look when they are having one of there secret communications. _Jasper was thinking.

Bella sighed and broke contact with her Father. It was her turn next and she made her first serious flaw of the game. I expected the other child to take advantage of her mistake but he was flustered by this point and missed the opportunity. With a slight roll of her eyes Bella gave him a more obvious chance with her next move. This time he noticed and within a few turns the boy had won the match.

"She threw the game." Was Jasper's conclusion. "She probably threw all the events in these articles." he added. "That is why she was always second or third place or a runner-up."

"It makes sense." I replied "If she was never the winner she would never be noticed particularly." "And it was obvious her father didn't want her getting any attention." I added. "Taken individually any one of these events is not that impressive. It only seems impressive when you look at them as a whole." "Unless someone went to the trouble of piecing it all together like we did, they would never notice anything out of the ordinary."

"I think that they moved often enough to guarantee nobody noticed anything out of the ordinary." Jasper added pointing out that most of the moves Bella and her Father had made came directly after Bella started to get some media attention. "I think that we have good evidence that Carlisle is right. She does seem to be hiding. In fact in some ways her moving pattern seem eerily similar to ours. The question is why?"

"And what does it mean to us?" Alice added from across the room.

"I don't know." I replied answering them both.

**______**

My family was unsettled with mine and Jasper's discoveries but also reluctantly intrigued. They could see my desire to stay in Forks, and since nobody really wanted to move again anyway (especially Rosalie) they agreed to humor me for the time being by staying put. Esme and Jasper were not particularly happy with this decision but they were not sure what else to do in the face of my unexpected resolve. We agreed to an uneasy truce of watchful waiting.

In school the next morning I was fascinated again watching Bella in her Literature class. She and the English teacher, Mr. Masen, engaged in a debate over Shakespeare's play A Midsummer's Night Dream that lasted almost the entire hour. Bella's comments where insightful. Bizarrely so. The instructor was really no match for her. He bullishly held onto the dogma he had most likely learned from similarly pedantic professors in college. Bella's unique and creative viewpoints easily deflated both his conclusions and his ego. I briefly considered the possibility of transferring to the class myself just so I could take part in the next debate, but decided I was being ridiculous again. I was a little concerned about the ire I heard in 's mind. It would be extremely unfair to penalize the girl for being smarter than him. Maybe I could do something about that...Alice, who sat in the seat in front of me, whipped around and glared at me. "Don't even think about it." she hissed. Well, maybe not.

The first thing in science that I noticed about the girl was that she looked better rested. The black circles were mostly gone from around her eyes and she had lost the general impression of languor. We didn't get an opportunity to speak at all during class as Mr. Banner droned on and on making me almost crazy. The only good thing about it was that since I didn't need to talk I was able to hold my breath the entire class. It made it much less painful to sit next to Bella than it had been before.

"I'll see you at the hardware store." the girl called over her shoulder as she exited the room after class. I was glad she mentioned it. I was a little worried she may have forgotten.


	5. Chapter 5

"I don't need a babysitter Alice." I growled.

"Who said anything about babysitting?" Alice replied airily. "I just want to go shopping."

"At Ace Hardware?" I asked in complete disbelief.

"I need some things for my room." She replied unconvincingly. "Besides I love to shop. If you were any kind of brother you would have invited me in the first place." she was pouting now and pleading with her eyes. As much as Rosalie's open hostility grated on my nerves at times I had to admit that I preferred her frontal assaults to Alice's manipulations. On the other hand at least Alice meant well...even if I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

"She is already afraid of me." I reasoned. "Now were going to give her two Cullen's to worry about?"

"I won't do anything to scare her." Alice answered indignant.

I sighed. If we didn't resolve this soon I was going to be late. My standing with the girl was tentative at best and the last thing I wanted was to appear disrespectful by making Bella wait for me. "Fine. Get in." I said angrily. Alice smirked as she got in the car. Of course she had known she would win.

Alice and Jasper had made a pact to keep an eye on me, especially if I was doing anything that involved the girl. It was Jasper's job to keep a check on my emotional well being and Alice had formed a somewhat nebulous plan to stick to me like glue and if possible befriend the girl. Sad to think that only two weeks ago Alice and I had had a similar pact to keep an eye on Jasper. How the mighty have fallen. I really hated causing my family undue concern but it wasn't hard to see that the constant surveillance was going to get annoying fast. I briefly wondered if this was how Jasper had always felt. I decided that I owed Jasper a huge apology.

Bella was waiting outside propped up against the wall under the eave. She was likely attempting to stay out of the drizzly rain. Bella had told me she didn't like the rain and by letting Alice make me late I had forced her to stay out in it. I felt another rush of irritation towards my sister.

"Sorry if we kept you waiting" I began formally shooting a quick glare at Alice. "This is my sister Alice. She needed something for her room so I invited her to accompany me." I used Alice's own lie as my excuse for bringing her. "I hope you don't mind."

Bella tilted her head and her eyes widened taking Alice fully in. Bella confidently looked Alice directly in the eye and replied "Nice to meet you" while extending her hand.

Alice had been prepared for Bella intellectually but the reality was still a shock to her. Humans just didn't look us in the eye. What an experience for Alice. For possibly the first time in her existence she was surprised and now to top it off she didn't know what to do. This was exactly the sort of predicament the rest of us had to deal with regularly; but from which Alice's gift had always saved her. If she shook Bella's hand she revealed the coldness of her own. Not shaking Bella's hand would be incredibly rude. To shake or not to shake. Always a dilemma.

_What should I do? _The question was rhetorical. Alice knew I didn't know either. Alice only hesitated a moment before extending her hand. Being friendly was more important to her than giving up more of our secrets. "Nice to meet you too." Alice replied with typical Alice perkiness.

I knew from Bella's face that she had noticed Alice's hesitation. I also saw her surprise at the coldness of Alice's hand though it was quickly masked. _Do you think its OK_? Alice silently questioned. She had noticed Bella's reactions as well. I minutely shrugged. How would I know?

I assumed when Bella hurried us inside that her goal was to get out of the rain. I was easy to hurry. I wanted out of the rain too. A wet Bella smelled even more appetizing than a dry Bella. Not surprisingly though I was wrong. Bella was on a mission again. She led us rapidly and methodically about the store collecting the items we needed. Alice was determined to "get to know" Bella as she put it. She kept up an excited and cheerful monologue all the while we were shopping which Bella largely ignored. I didn't think that Bella was necessarily trying to be rude. She was just incredibly focused on the task at hand. I was torn between my amusement with Bella's single mindedness and being a little irritated by it for Alice's sake. Alice wasn't amused. I doubt she had ever had less fun shopping. No browsing and no conversation. Bella definitely didn't shop like a girl.

Bella used me as her initial pack horse and then as my hands began to look full she started loading up Alice. I could have easily carried all of the girls selections and almost offered to do so but then it occurred to me that a human probably would struggle with the load I already had. I didn't notice at first, partly because my attention was somewhat focused on fighting the monster and partly because I was used to the way my family shopped, but it eventually occurred to me that the girl's selections were a little odd. Bella always chose the most expensive version of whatever it was she was acquiring seemingly indiscriminate of any other quality the item may have. I was amused to realize that this had Alice's whole hearted approval. Apparently Alice felt that maintaining a certain standard was important even when shopping for hardware.

Bella chose a caulking that was three times as expensive as all the others. It offered several amenities over the other brands that were probably very useful in the right situation; we however, had no use for any of the extras. I didn't really care. Not about the price anyway. My family could bring whole new meaning to the phrase 'money is no object' and truly for the most part money is irrelevant to a Cullen. But my curiosity was intense. Almost rivaling my thirst. "Why do you want that one?" I had to ask.

Bella's eyes gleamed. "Because my mother is paying" She replied.

"What?!" I asked.

Bella replied in the same flippant tone she had used in science the day I had made the mistake of asking about her father. "I have a credit card my mother gave me. Its for necessities and emergencies. I am taking a liberty here and assuming that school work is a necessity."

"Don't you like your Mother?" Alice was curious now too.

"I don't know." Bella answered. "I've never met her."

"Never?" I asked shocked.

"No." Bella was mater-of-fact.

" You have never seen your own mother." I continued stunned. "Never been in the same room with her?"

"Well, I assume she was there when I was born." Bella deadpanned.

Alice snickered. "Most likely." She agreed.

Bella's eyes met Alice's. The girl's face reminded me of comedian who had just delivered a great line and was trying to keep from laughing while the audience reacted. But then something softened on Bella's face and she gave Alice a genuine smile. Alice happily smiled back and I knew that Alice had accomplished what I had yet to do. She was Bella's friend.

"Hi Bella. I noticed your car out front and thought I would come say hi. I work next door at my Parents store, Newton Outfitters." I had been so fascinated watching Bella and Alice that I had missed Mike Newton approaching us. It bothered me that I could be that distracted. It didn't happen often.

Newton was elated to run into Bella outside of school. He had been looking for an opportunity to talk to her for several days. He was becoming very proprietary in his thinking regarding Bella and had even begun indulging in lewd fantasies that I had no choice but to listen to during science class. They nauseated me. I hopped that he didn't start with the fantasies or I might be tempted to indulge in one of my own. I imagined the pleasant crunch Mike Newtons body would make if I threw him up against the wall. I would be gentle. Only break a few bones.

It was obvious that Mike wasn't happy to see Bella with Alice and I. _What is Bella doing with the creepy Cullen's? _He was wondering. Mike was annoyed and a little jealous to find Bella with me specifically. _I thought she couldn't stand him. Not surprising either. Freakin creep show._

_"_So...what are you doing at Ace." Mike asked flashing what he deemed a charming smile. _And with them_ he added silently.

"Supplies for our science project." Bella said indicating the supplies in mine and Alice's arms. She smiled at Mike, polite, but indifferent to his presence. I relaxed slightly and let out the breath I hadn't realized I had been holding. Alice noticed my reaction and sent a quizzical look my way. I ignored her.

"Oh yeah the science project." Mike said. He was relieved to realize that our outing was school related. He had been worried about what our being together might mean. His self-confidence reemerged. _Should have known_ he was thinking. _Only way she would spend time with Eerie Edward was if she had too. I'll bet she wishes I was her science partner. Course she would probably rather have anyone than Cullen. _Mike was getting offensive. It didn't help that he was probably right.

"So are you guys almost done?" Mike asked eying mine and Alice's overflowing arms. "I'm not really working today. I was just picking up some packages for my Dad. Are you hungry? Maybe we could get some dinner or something..." Mike trailed off looking at Bella hopefully.

I felt a surge of extreme emotion whip through me and my desire to hurt Mike Newton increased exponentially. Alice was upset too. Neither of us claimed to be experts in normal human behavior but asking a girl out while she was with other people (and ignoring them completely) seemed a little classless even for Mike Newton. But rude behavior didn't seem like enough justification for the lethal rage I felt boiling inside. Insensitive behavior was standard high school fare. I saw it every day and it had never made me want to kill anyone before. Was it just that it was specifically directed at me this time?

Bella was staring at Mike Newton as though she were really seeing him for the first time. "I can't Mike I'm working on my science project." She replied shortly. Bella had a crease between her brows and was frowning slightly. Oddly enough Mike took this as encouragement. _Too bad she is busy._ He was thinking. _She really wishes she could go with me._

Does she? I wondered scrutinizing Bella's face. She did look unhappy. Maybe even worried about something? Regardless, I was happy she had told him no. I felt the girl deserved better than someone as generic as Mike Newton. I knew he could never appreciate the fascinating mind this small human was carrying around. He just wasn't bright enough. Also I realized that it would have made me disappointed in Bella if she had done something as rude as abandoning Alice and I. While logically I admitted it shouldn't matter to me, I still wanted to believe that Bella's manners were on a slightly higher par than your average high school students. If some part of my mind still felt that my degree of relief at her rejection of him was a little disproportionate to the situation I decided to ignore it.

"Well some other time then." Mike said giving the girl an intimate smile as he turned to leave.

Bella blinked. I didn't have to try to read her this time. The shock was written plainly on her face. Involuntarily I smiled. Bella noticed and her surprised face melted into the unhappy worried look. What did I do? I realized I hadn't smiled my careful make humans comfortable smile. My smile was too big. Had I scared her? She didn't look scared. How did everyone else in the world function without being able to read minds? I wondered irritably. It was unbelievably frustrating not to know what the girl was thinking.

We quickly found the remaining items for out project in silence. Even Alice had stopped chattering and was quiet. In her mind she was singing seventies pop songs that I loathed. I vaguely wondered what it was she didn't want me to hear her thinking about.

At the register I realized I had a dilemma. Even knowing the reason why Bella was planning to pay for our purchases I still didn't want to let her. For some reason it felt ungentlemanly. Bella had in her hand a little black credit card that was nearly identical to the one I had been planning to use. I guess that she hadn't been exaggerating about her mother being wealthy. I briefly considered the odds of more than two families living in this backwater town being able to boast incomes that would make them eligible for unlimited credit cards. The odds couldn't be good. "I'll get it." I said getting my card out a little too fast for normal human movement.

"No" Bella stated firmly. "My Mother is paying."

I could hear in Alice's mind her astonishment over Bella standing up for herself as we proceeded to have a drawn out argument over who would have the dubious pleasure of paying. The cashier was in shock. It was doubtful that she had ever seen a black credit card. Let alone had two people waving them around her checkout arguing over who got to use theirs.

"If you wanted to pay you should have mentioned it earlier." Bella was insisting. "I would have made entirely different selections. If you pay now we will have to put everything back and start over. Do you really want to do that?"

"It doesn't matter." I ground out. "I don't care what it costs."

"Well I do." Bella replied handing her card to the cashier as if that settled the matter.

The cashier held the card uncertainly. Bella may be immune to the anger of an easily frustrated vampire but the check-out lady wasn't. She had originally been impressed by mine and Alice's appearance, but now her heart was beating a little uncomfortably and her thoughts were becoming incoherent. Realizing that I was arguing with the wrong person, I smiled my best 'Mrs. Cope get out of school free smile' at the cashier and exchanged my card for Bella's in her hand. The cashiers heart began to beat faster in a way that had nothing to do with fear and numbly she swiped my card and returned it to me. I saw Alice smirking in my peripheral but again I ignored her. I was getting surprisingly good at ignoring things I didn't want to think about.

I collected our bags and without discussing it we all headed for the exit. Bella led and I was unable to see her face. I wasn't sure I wanted too. When we reached our vehicles I finally turned. "Thank you for coming with us." I said reverting to formal to hide my uncertainty.

Bella looked me directly in the eye. "You are a big cheater" she stated. "I'll see you tomorrow." she added getting into her car. I watched as she drove off.

All the way home Alice focused on translating Dr. Suez to Greek trying ineffectually to find words that would both rhyme and still maintain the integrity of the original text. It might have been funny if it hadn't been annoying me so much. Oh well she would slip. I would see what was going on inside her head soon enough.


	6. Chapter Five Part 2

Hi, I think this should have gone with the last chapter but I didn't update for so long I just wanted to get something out. Just out of curiosity is anyone reading this? I would be interested to hear what you think.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Not surprisingly Alice was practically mobbed by my mother and siblings when we got home. As the official point of first contact I could tell that all my family was excited to hear all the details of our outing and I knew that they would probably spend the rest of the night hashing and rehashing all the details. I understood. Our lives were so much the same that any change could become a point of utter fascination. However for some reason the thought of listening to their conjectures about Bella all night suddenly made me feel almost suffocated. Jasper shot me an odd look and I announced to no-one in particular that I needed to hunt. Esme gave me a sympathetic smile and the others barely noticed as I rushed out. They were too interested in Alice's story.

I hunted. Overdoing it again as seemed to be my habit as of late. I imagined that my eyes must be a bright topaz I was so full. Not that that would keep them from turning black the next time I smelled the girl. Sighing, I laid down on a rocky bed next to a small stream. It was early. Probably only ten or eleven and I felt at loose ends wondering what I should do for the next eight or nine hours. I didn't really want to go home. But I also felt strangely uncomfortable with myself knowing that I was purposely avoiding examining my feelings too hard.

I casually began to go over the information we had assembled about the girl. I wondered what would be the next most effective step in unraveling the mystery that was Bella Swan. I wished that there was some way I could get into her head. Even the head of someone near her. That thought made me sit up. Of course. Why hadn't I thought of it before? I felt a strange jittery excitement sweep through me as I realized exactly what I was going to do. I was going to go see the girl. Even if her mind was a blank wall perhaps I could get something from Uncle Charley.

* * *

"You scared me last night" Alice announced apropos to nothing as we were driving to school the next morning.

"What?!" I asked startled. "Why?"

"I was afraid that you had finally given into your baser nature." Alice replied only half joking. I was just about to send out the troops when I guess you changed your mind."

"What are you talking about Alice?" I asked genuinely confused. "I went hunting and then I came home."

"Oh just admit it," Alice was frustrated. "I saw you. You know you thought about it."

I could see the vision clearly in Alice's mind. Myself lying next to a stream. Suddenly I sat up and then just disappeared. Seeing it in Alice's mind I remembered last evening with a jolt. I had made a decision to visit the Swan residence and see what I could learn from the mind of Charlie Swan. I had run at a slow pace to Bella's house testing myself all the way to make sure that I was in control. I made it to the forest edge surrounding the Swan property when for some reason I felt an overwhelming desire to return home and listen to music. I had ran home at top speed and then entirely forgotten about the whole thing until just now. Which should be impossible...I'm a vampire....We don't forget things.

I slammed on the brakes and pulled over. "Your right I was going to the Swan house. I thought it might be interesting to see what was in her Uncle Charlie's mind. But I never got there. For some reason I turned back...and then I forgot about the whole thing."

"It's good that you decided to forget about it." Emmet teased. "I had better things to be doing with my night than chasing you down....Can we go to school now?" he added. Emmet was wondering why I was being so dramatic. _Kid must have come really close to killing her _he surmised.

"No you don't understand." I replied tersely trying to tune Emmet out as he began thinking about exactly what better things he had been doing the night before. "I don't mean that I choose not to go to Bella's house, I mean that I literally forgot that I was going to. I had no memory of it until I saw it in Alice's vision. If it weren't for Alice I doubt I would have ever remembered. And I don't think I chose not to go there. It was more like I was compelled not to."

"That isn't possible." Jasper was truly shaken. He wanted to believe I was playing some sort of game but he could feel both my seriousness and my sincerity.

"I need to talk to Carlisle." was my only reply. I was about to turn the car around when Alice spoke up.

"No. We should go to school. Carlisle will be dealing with an emergency all day and won't be able to come home until later."

"Is it safe?" Jasper asked Alice.

"Should be." Alice replied cautiously after a moment of scanning our futures. I would do a brief disappearing act during Physical Science but other than that it looked to be a pretty normal day at Forks High.

"Oh come on." Emmet couldn't stand it anymore. "We are talking about one little girl here. I think we can take her"

I had to laugh. "I guess five vampires against one human is pretty good odds." I admitted.

Emmet broke the tension but I knew from their thoughts that everyone was still unsettled by my strange experience. Shaking it off I pulled out and resumed driving to school.

"Well, this just keeps getting better and better." I heard Rosalie mutter under her breath from the backseat. "I hope your happy Edward."

I employed my new found talent and ignored her.


	7. Chapter 6

School proved as uneventful as Alice had predicted. I kept tabs on Bella Swan through the eyes of others but nothing out of the ordinary happened. The girl seemed unusually quiet. She largely ignored her classmates and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. Occasionally a small smile would whisper about her lips as though she were laughing to herself. I wondered what was funny.

At lunch I almost killed Mike Newton. As usual, I was with my family at our table casually pretending to eat while really ease dropping on Bella. The conversation at her table was desultory at best and centered around some minor scandal that had occurred in gym. Bella seemed distracted. Or maybe she just thought the topic was as boring as I did. I stopped paying close attention, only jumping from mind to mind occasionally, which is how Mike Newton's intentions took me by surprise. Fortunately Jasper felt my emotional upheaval in time to grab me and hold me forcibly in my seat until I could calm down. I destroyed the chair I was sitting on but Alice came through for me and removed the evidence before anyone ever knew about it.

"I think it would be fun to get out of town tonight and go see a Movie in Port Angeles. I heard Mike ask the girl. We could get some dinner too...."

Mike had become newly emboldened by his meeting with Bella yesterday at the store. Enough to ask her out in front of all their friends. Inexplicably his invitation sparked a bizarre range of emotions in me. Anger? Shock? Despair? I couldn't define my own reaction but I definitely caught Jasper's attention with the intensity of it.

However, it was really the mental image accompanying the invitation that almost ended Mike Newton's life. Mike had more plans that he wasn't verbalizing for after the movie. Those plans he pictured vividly in his mind and they involved the backseat of his car. My anger spiraled out of control. How dare he think about her like that!? It was then that Jasper had clamped down on me. I was so distracted by Mike Newton that I hadn't even registered his intent. Jasper threw a virtual wall of calm my way and I was able to regain enough control to stop struggling. I realized that Jasper and I had attracted some attention so we tried to play the moment off as some friendly family horseplay. The entire group of freshman sitting at the table next to ours got up and left the lunch room anyway.

"That's a great idea Mike." I heard Bella reply. "Who all wants to go?"

I felt instantly better. Leave it to Mike Newton to word an invitation so awkwardly that the recipient didn't realize she was being asked out. Or did she I wondered? Bella was clever enough to take advantage of his mistake if she didn't want to go on a date with him. Again I wished I could read her mind.

_What was that_? Jasper demanded silently at my side. He was mentally going over the "incident" as he termed it, and cataloging the shocking array of emotions I had experienced in the last half minute.

"I'm sorry Jasper." I replied humbly. "And...thank you." I added awkwardly.

Bella's friends had become involved in discussing who could go and it seemed that there little trip was rapidly becoming something of an event. I listened overly interested as they decided all the details of the outing. I really hoped Jasper wasn't going to question me any further. I had no idea what had just happened to me. I didn't understand the primary emotion Jasper finally pinpointed in me either. Jealousy.

____

In science we were again given the last few minutes to work on our project. Bella and I were pretty much at the point that the only thing left to do was actually assemble the machine....which was pretty good considering we had over a month to complete the project. Bella had surprised me today by being openly friendly when I had came in. She had a look of suppressed laughter as she greeted me. Was she laughing at me? Why? I pondered the mystery throughout class.

"So how do you want to do this?" Bella asked me in her best down to business voice that I was becoming familiar with. "Did you bring the equipment?"

I smiled a little as I realized our odds and ends supplies had now been elevated to equipment. "No." I answered. "I think it would be better to build the machine outside of school."

Bella considered this for a moment. "Your right" she agreed, nodding seriously. "We are going to need more precise tools than any that will be available here."

That wasn't really my concern but I let the excuse stand. "Could we meet sometime at your house to finish the assignment?" I asked hesitantly. I wasn't sure it was a good idea for me to be alone with the girl. I felt a little more in control everyday but I knew that wasn't saying much.

"I can't invite you to my house." Bella replied making an odd choking noise that sounded like she was trying to swallow laughter as she answered. "Charlie would kill me."

I was perplexed. I could tell that she was completely serious. But for some reason it was funny too. Why didn't Charlie want me in their home? Was it because I'm a boy? That certainly would have been unacceptable in my time but rules had relaxed a great deal since those days. "I could bring Alice." I offered. That was probably a good idea anyway.

Bella made the choking laugh noise again. She looked like she was strangling on the held back laughter and her eyes were twinkling like mad. "_None_ of you are invited to my house." she said a bit unsteadily. "Gender is irrelevant."

"You aren't allowed to have friends over?" I asked feeling a little sorry for the girl and still confused about why it would be funny.

"You can't come to my house Edward." she replied a little more seriously, sidestepping my question. "Where else would you like to meet?"

I considered my home as a possibility but rejected the idea immediately. Come to think of it my family would probably kill me too if I brought Bella home. How ironic. "I'm not sure." I replied a little lamely.

Bella gave me an appraising look. "Well lets both think about it. I would like to get this thing done."

The bell rang ending class. Bella shot me a swift smile, a slight wave, and was out the door. I wondered how watching her leave could both relieve me and depress me so much at the same time. I hate attending school. How ridiculous that the highlight of my day was quickly becoming my physical science class.

I watched Bella during her last class through the medium of Mike Newton's mind. She and Newton were partnered together playing badminton. Newton was spending a lot more of his time watching Bella than the birdie. I laughed out loud at one point when it hit him squarely in the forehead. Emmet who was sitting next to me in Spanish raised an eyebrow but fortunately didn't question me any further. Towards the end of class Mike began considering how he might put some of his less appropriate plans for his evening with Bell into action, despite the crowd going with them to Port Angeles. This made me angry but I didn't loose control again. Instead, I decided to go to the movies that night myself. Someone needed to keep an eye on that deviant.

Driving home I realized that Alice had seen my decision and was now considering one of her own. _Can I come? _She asked excited.

I looked into the rear-view mirror and slowly lowered my eyes signaling to Alice that I would take her with me. She then decided to ask Jasper to come as well. I rolled my eyes at her. This was escalating as quickly as Newton's "date" had. But why not? In reality I preferred going with my family over going by myself. It didn't feel so...weird.

_______________________________

I was surprised by the movie choice until I heard the rationalization for it in Mike Newton's head. He had chosen a monster flick claiming that he should get to pick the movie because it had been his idea to come in the first place. He was secretly hopping that Bella would be scared during the show and turn to him for comfort. Really was that the best he could come up with? How cliché.

Alice, Jasper and I sat in the very back of the theater. Alice grumbled a little about this complaining that you only heard the best acoustics when sitting in the middle, but I was adamant. If possible, I preferred not to be seen by Bella or any of her friends.

The movie was terrible. Laughable even. Or it would have been if I wasn't having to endure the sight of Mike Newton trying to cozy up to Bella Swan. The ridiculous child had used every trick in the book. He had even tried stretching and then placing his arm over her shoulders. Bella herself was cringed to the far corner edge of her chair. I was certain that if she moved so much as an inch she was going to fall off her seat all together. I desperately wanted to take this boy outback and show him what a real monster looked like. I would love to watch him cringe back the same way he had Bella doing.

The movie was about half over. Newton was trying another lame trick when Bella finally decided that she had had enough. "I need to go to the restroom" she announced and rushed out of the theater.

Twenty minutes later she hadn't come back...and I was getting agitated. "I will go check on her." Alice finally offered. She had a mental image of Bella in the bathroom sobbing. I was horrified by the idea that Mike could have done that to her but after thinking about it I decided the image was off. I imagined it more likely that Bella would be in the bathroom raging. That thought made me smile.

I tuned out of Alice's mind as she entered the ladies room feeling it would be ungentlemanly of me to follow her in there---so I was surprised a minute later to hear her calling me from outdoors. _Edward_ she practically yelled in my head. _Shes left. She isn't in the building and her scent leads outside._ I motioned for Jasper to follow me and we silently left quickly joining Alice in the parking lot.

After a quick discussion (mostly to fill Jasper in) the three of us began tracking Bella. The theater was located at the end of the downtown area of Port Angeles. The quaint tourist trap quickly melded into a dirty industrial area on this side of town. It seemed unlikely that anything could have happened to the girl. Port Angeles is a relatively safe community. Most likely blowing off steam I imagined – but still I was anxious to find her. I was surprised by how far Bella had been able to get in such a short time. Had she been running?

The streets were mostly deserted. It was cold, and late for a week night. I was sweeping the few minds I did come in contact with, but none of them had noticed the girl. It was then that I heard it and I felt chilled to the bone. There were four men and they had herded her into a back street and were prepared to attack. Three of them were drunk. Their minds were muddled and they were a little confused about what was happening. They were blindly following the fourth man who had promised them a little fun. The fourth mans mind was on par with the ones that I had hunted during my rebellious years. It was vile. A cess pool. Bella wasn't his first victim either, I could see in his mind the broken bodies of other girls he had done this to. Were going to be too late I thought frantically as one of the men grabbed at her arm ripping her sleeve. I didn't bother to explain the situation to Alice and Jasper. No. Not her I thought as I put on a burst of speed leaving Alice and Jasper behind.

Something had happened. I wasn't getting any coherent thoughts anymore just blinding pain. I was horrified to think that after wishing all week that I could hear the girls thoughts that the first thoughts of hers I may be privy to were the ones proceeding her death. I sped even faster focusing all my energy on running. Bella's trail led about two miles away into a dimly lit dead-end alley. I ran the distance in a matter of seconds--record time even for me. When I got to Bella I stopped dead. I was definitely not seeing the sight I had been dreading. While I stood there gaping Jasper and Alice caught up with me.

Bella was standing calmly in the center of the four men who were strung about her on the road in various unnatural positions. She seemed unconcerned with the men but was instead examining the tear on her shirt sleeve with an irritated crease between her eyebrows. Three of the men were moaning. They were in pain, but not seriously injured. The other man, the ring leader, was completely still. I knew he wasn't dead. I could hear his heartbeat....but it was faint. His body lay twisted and limp on the street and he was covered in his own blood. In fact there was blood everywhere. None of it was Bella's though. I would have known that instantly. It was surreal to see the attacker lying so broken in the street. He looked almost exactly like one of his own victims did when he was finished with them.

"We need to get out of here." Alice gasped beside me. Jasper was quickly becoming overwhelmed by all the blood.

"Go." I commanded seeing Jasper's plight. Alice wheeled and half drug Jasper away. She headed directly out of town into the forest. She wasn't taking any chances with Jasper being near humans until he had hunted. _See you at home_ she thought as they disappeared.

I melted into the side of the building out of sight but still watching. I was surprised that the blood wasn't affecting me more—but even free-flowing the mans blood had nothing on Bella's. Bella gingerly stepped over the men. She looked for a moment as though she was going to leave but instead stood with her eyes closed muttering to herself. Finally she took out her cell phone and I listened as she dialed 911 and gave the authorities directions to the men. She then began a gentle loping jog back to the theater. I followed covertly behind assuring that she made it back safe. I really wasn't sure what it was I was keeping her safe from. My mind felt fuzzy, vacant. It refused to think about what I had just witnessed. Could a vampire go into shock? It seemed that I was more likely to at the moment than Bella was.

Bella joined her friends outside the theater. The movie had let out about ten minutes before and her friends had been looking for her. I quickly ducked into my car and jerked out of the parking lot jumping to full speed within minutes. I drove home on auto-pilot.

--------------

Just outside of Forks another first for me occurred. I had wanted to meet Chief Swan--Bella's uncle. Find out what I could from him about his niece. But I hadn't planned on getting pulled over by him. Or anyone else for that matter. Ever.

I had been doing about 120 down the highway. I never worry about speeding. Mind reading works like a built in radar system, I hear cops long before I get anywhere near them. But I didn't hear anything from Charlie's mind which is why the flashing lights from behind took me completely by surprise.

"Whats the hurry?" Chief Swan asked shining a flashlight into my eyes. "Do you know how fast you were going?"

"Pretty fast Sir." I said in my best straight A, honor role, upstanding citizen voice while hanging my head in a show of humility and shame.

"Will you please step out of the car?" He asked unimpressed.

For a moment I considered flooring it, but instead I did as he asked. Almost everyone in my family had had an indiscretion at some point and we had moved for just about everyone (except Carlisle) at least once. My family accepted these moves and dealt with them as best they could. However, if I forced my family to move over a speeding violation there was a good chance Rosalie would rip my head off. Besides I didn't want to make any worse an impression on Chief Swan than I already had.

Chief Swan proceeded to give me a sobriety test. I walked a straight line in pinpoint precision back and forth twice, recited the alphabet backwards flawlessly, and touched fingertip to nose perfectly and repeatedly before Fork's finest allowed me to quit. I realized that Chief Swan was much like his niece in another way besides the quiet mind. He was playing with me and enjoying it immensely.

Chief Swan handcuffed me and placed me gently in the back of his cruiser. I was being arrested for going 55 miles over the speed limit. A felony. I wondered what the Chief would think if I shredded the handcuffs and disappeared into the night as I longed to. I didn't though. I acted my part. I stayed put...and fuming. I wondered with dark humor...if he knew...would chief Swan be sufficiently honored to be the first human in history to successfully arrest a vampire?

At the station I was given my obligatory phone call and Carlisle assured me he would be there to pick me up soon. He manfully held back the laughter. While sitting in my cell I angrily wondered why Alice hadn't called and saved me from this experience but then I realized that since I couldn't hear Chief Swan there was a good chance Alice couldn't see him either. Carlisle was good to his word and came for me quickly. About a mile off I could hear him as he mused on the fact that he should probably be grateful to me for providing him with this experience. It was the most like a human father he had ever felt. Unfortunately Emmet was with him too. He was already plotting how to make my life miserable for the next decade or so. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I was having a very human day as well. I had been jealous. I had felt like I was having a heart attack when I had heard what those men wanted to do to Bella. I had almost gone into shock when I had seen what Bella had done to those men. And now I felt like I might get a migraine.


	8. Chapter 7

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I had fun reading your comments. Enjoy....

It seemed like family meetings were becoming disturbingly frequent at the Cullen house. We were all seated around Esme's enormous ornate antique dining table that no-one ever ate at. We looked like a board meeting for super models minus the Perrier. I was definitely sitting in the hot seat. Usually it would have been Jasper and instead of feeling guilty I would be feeling a little self-righteous, and magnanimously forgiving. I realized I owed Jasper another apology.

We had already discussed the odd events of last night and the even stranger events of this evening in Port Angeles. The same questions were floating around in everyone's minds. My family were all wondering what the story was with this strange child and secondly why I had felt the need to follow the girl to Port Angeles in the first place. I didn't know the answer to the first question and I chose not to answer the second. In all honesty I really wasn't sure why I had felt compelled to follow Bella to Port Angeles. Of course part of it had been the need to thwart the despicable Mike Newton's evil plot...but it wasn't like I followed every girl in school on their dates when their boyfriends had less then noble intentions. (If I did I wouldn't have time for much else.) I couldn't quite make myself believe that it was simple curiosity either. Even I had to admit that inquisitiveness was becoming a pretty thin excuse for my obsession with all things Bella Swan. Jasper was preoccupied trying to answer the question for himself. He was being scientific. Trying to add up all of my strange emotions and behaviors into a working sum of what he thought was wrong with me. He couldn't find an answer that fit. Uneasily he began to wonder if my attraction to the girls blood was so strong that it was affecting my ability to behave rationally.

Carlisle was musing over our experience at the jail. For whatever reason (and irritatingly I didn't know because I couldn't read his mind) Chief Swan had decided not to book me. He had released me to Carlisle's custody with only a warning to watch the speed. At least I hadn't become the first vampire in history with a criminal record.

As we were leaving the jail Chief Swan had looked me directly in the eyes. He was smiling, but not pleasantly, and his eyes were bright and fearsome. He lowered his tone and addressed me in a freezing voice that made me want to shiver. I resisted. It would have been a stupidly human reaction. A part of my brain gave him credit for his delivery. It was far more intimidating than yelling would have been. One thing that I have noticed during my century of living in the vampire world--those who are truly powerful almost never feel the need to raise their voice.

"You need to be careful of the company you keep." He said gently and unexpectedly. I distantly wondered how such a soft voice could seem so loud. Charlie's words filled the entire room. "Who we choose as our friends is so important. Wouldn't you agree Doctor Cullen?" He was asking my father but his eyes never left mine. On the surface his words seemed like something he might say to any kid he was trying to mentor but we all knew he wasn't trying to help me. I didn't spend time with anyone except my own family...and lately his niece. He was warning me away. "I'll be watching." he added looking up. This he addressed to all of us.

"Wow. Vampires could take lessons from that guy." Emmet had commented as we climbed into the car.

I had ignored him. "We need to go get my car." I said laying my head back against the rest and pinching the bridge of my nose. I had chose to sit in the back. Completely out of character for me but I really didn't feel like driving. It probably wouldn't have been a good idea with Chief Swan watching anyway.

"No need." Carlisle had replied. "Alice and Jasper already brought it home." _Alice saw you disappear just outside of town_ he continued mentally. _She was worried that you had run into Bella so she and Jasper came to find you. They were a little concerned when all that they found was your empty car. I was actually speaking with Alice on the other line when I got your call_. I had seen in Carlisle's mind as he relived the experience of getting a call from one of his children in jail. The laughter had begun welling up in him again. He had suppressed his mirth but couldn't stop a grin from covering his face. I had closed my eyes not wanting to see it. I could only wish there was a way to close my mind as well.

I had wallowed for the rest of the short ride home. Surprisingly even Emmett had allowed me some solitude. _Poor guy. _He had thought with an inner chuckle. _Ruff night.... _ Emmet's thoughts were flavored with humor but he had held back from harassing me because he felt genuinely sorry for me too. Seeing myself through his eyes I had realized why. I looked wretched. Vampires weren't supposed to have melt-downs but after only a few of weeks of having met Isabella Swan I felt dangerously close to one.

"Charlie Swan doesn't want Edward to be around his niece Bella." Carlisle stated pulling me back to the present.

"What a surprise." Rosalie muttered.

Carlisle shot her a disapproving look. "Edward," he said addressing me with a frown. "Either we move, or you stay away from the Swan child. Those are your only choices." My father rarely gave ultimatums. He respected that each of us was an adult capable of making choices for ourselves. It was only on rare occasions when he felt that our decisions were a danger to everyone that he acted as the head of our coven. I could see that he had a serious concern underlying his demands but he was carefully blocking it from me.

"I can't do that." I argued. "We have to finish our project for school." Even I could hear the petulance in my tone. Could I sound any more like a teenager?

Carlisle stared hard at me for an uncomfortably long time. I refused to squirm under his eye. "Fine." He finally replied. "Tomorrow you can invite Bella to come to our home Saturday morning. We will all be here....if you need help." It made me feel small that my father felt I needed all of them present in order to control myself. It made me feel even smaller to know that he may be right.

"You will finish the project, and after that I expect you to stay strictly away from the girl. Do you understand?" He asked.

I nodded tersely. I didn't want to ignore the girl...but I wanted to move even less.

"Good." Carlisle relaxed. "I admit," he added with a smile now that I was cooperating, "I would like to meet Bella Swan myself."

*****

Friday was uneventful. Bella had hesitantly agreed to finish the project at my home and I had spent the entire night glutting myself on animal blood in preparation of spending a good share of the next day with her.

Saturday morning. I was a jumble of nerves. Jasper kept shooting me odd looks and spurts of calm. Bella was a little late and I was getting concerned. Was she not coming after all? But then I felt a familiar jittery excitement sweep through me as I heard Bella's sleek car making its way up the long driveway. Jasper rolled his eyes.

"Calm down jail bait." Emmett called from across the room. Apparently his reticence of Thursday evening was to be a thing of the past. Since he was stuck in the house on a Saturday morning, he and Jasper were engaged in one of their enormous eight game board chess matches. Jasper was winning by something of a margin and Emmet was getting grumpy. He was already planning how to take it out on me.

Bella was at the door knocking. Venom pooled in the back of my mouth and I hesitated for a moment testing my control again. Alice took the opportunity to flash by me and open the door. My control worries gave way to irritation at Alice. She smirked at me and I realized that she had planned it that way. Shaking my head at her I smiled back.

"Bella! Welcome! Come in." Alice invited. "Edward has been waiting for you."

"I know. I'm sorry I'm late." Bella replied. "I was unavoidably detained." She added with a small scowl as she removed her coat and gloves.

Bella looked past Alice and saw me. "Ready to go partner?" she asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.

Bella stood framed in the doorway. She was wearing a dark blue sweater that set off her porcelain skin to perfection. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and her eyes were even more luminescent than usual....and she was smiling at me. I felt another unidentifiable emotion well up inside. In general I was sad that this would be my last contact with Bella but for the moment I was elated just to have her here. Perhaps Jasper was right and the blood-lust was affecting my ability to be rational. "Ready." I replied softly with a too big smile for the girl.

Bella blinked at me and her heart rate accelerated for a moment. I was confused. Had I scared her? I needed to watch the teeth when I smiled.

Bella shook her head a little and seemed to snap out of it. She wandered in glancing casually about. As she took in our home her eyebrows rose slightly but she made no comment. She noticed Emmet and Jasper playing their elaborate chess game. Jasper was somewhat reluctant to meet Bella. Knowing what her scent did to my self control he wasn't sure he even wanted to test his own. Emmet however was almost as excited as Alice. He smiled hugely at Bella. "Edward" he boomed across the room. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?"

A small smile was flitting about Bella's mouth as we walked over. "Bella," I introduced "These are my brothers Emmet and Jasper."

"Nice to meet you." Bella replied. "Interesting game." she added taking in the sizable chess board.

It was Emmet's turn. Absentmindedly he picked up one of his knights to move while seriously contemplating what he could say to the girl. Watching Emmet's moves with interest Bella made a distressed noise in the back of her throat and and waved the knight back. Fascinated Emmet hesitated – his knight hanging suspended in the air above the board. Never taking his eyes off Bella he slowly placed the chess piece back to its original position. "So what would you suggest then?" he asked amused.

"Your queen." Bella stated pointing to one of only two queens left standing in Emmet's quickly dwindling army. The basic rules of the elaborate chess game remained the same. Like normal chess each player had only one king that the other player had to take in order to win. But he also had five complete armies to back his king up with. Just the addition of one army made the game exponentially more complex. Five made it mind numbing. Jasper had taken a bit of a risk the turn before. It put him in a better attack position but also left a vulnerable hole in his defenses. Recognizing that Emmet was distracted he had decided to gamble – if it worked he would set a new family record for quickest win. He hadn't counted on Bella.

From then on, Emmet may have appeared to be playing but it was really Bella vs Jasper. Emmet was merely the girl's puppet moving chess pieces as Bella directed. My brother Jasper has one of the most brilliant strategical minds I had ever come in contact with. Alice and I can beat him in games, but only because with our talents we can "cheat" as he puts it. However, I doubt there were many others, either vampire or human, who could win a strategy game against Jasper under normal circumstances. (Not that this knowledge ever seemed to stop Emmet from trying.)

Every member of our family at some point had wandered in to watch the epic chess match happening in our very own living room. We were all in awe. As if being pitted against Jasper wasn't enough, Bella had entered the game with a serious handicap. Emmet had been close to defeat when she had begun directing his moves. The lions share of his army was already taken and what was left was poorly strategically positioned. Looking over the board I assumed it would be impossible to recover from the position Emmet had dug himself into. But I was wrong. With Emmet's queen Bella began by taking advantage of the hole in Jasper's defenses. Then she quickly and decisively used her turns to move Emmet's pieces into better positions while simultaneously eating away at Jasper's armies.

Jasper was having no problems with blood lust. He was far too preoccupied fighting a war. _I'm actually going to loose this_ he was frantically thinking as he desperately tried to invent new strategies to meet the onslaught. I expected Bella to get anxious as well. If for no other reason than as a result of Jasper's emotions-but I could see through Jasper's mind that she remained calm and unaffected. Jasper out-did himself with new and clever attacks but no matter how ingenious his play was it always seemed to be a step behind Bella's. Within an impossibly short half hour we did have a new family record for quickest win time...only it went to Bella not Jasper.

"Hah!" Emmet crowed. "I win!"

Six sets of vampire eyes turned on Emmet in shock. _He can't be serious._ Jasper was thinking.

"Great job Emmet." Bella complimented sincerely.

"Thanks partner." Emmet replied with a huge smile. He raised his hand and very gently high-fived the girl. "You owe me a cool ten Jasper." he added shooting a smirk at my brother.

"Ten dollars?" Bella inquired eyebrow quirked again.

"Ten thousand." I corrected with a smile.

"Steep." Bella replied impressed.

"I'm not paying you." Jasper informed Emmet. He was coming out of his shock. "You cheated." he accused.

"What?" Emmet asked feigning indignation. "I did not cheat."

"You didn't even play." Jasper argued. "Bella directed your every move."

"Their was nothing in the rules that said I couldn't have an advisor." Emmet pointed out stubbornly.

"Their was nothing that said you _could_ have one either." Jasper retorted. "Besides she wasn't an advisor--she was a...a...puppeteer."

I could feel Jasper's ire rising. We all did. His anger was beginning to affect us too. Normally this was the sort of thing we could all have fun with. Take it outside and get a little vampire aggression out. But not with a human around. Dangerous on so many levels.

"Maybe it's time for a rematch." Carlisle suggested placatingly before things could escalate. It was a good move. Jasper knew he could beat Emmet without interference, (especially now that he had picked up on some new tricks) and Emmet could never turn down a challenge.

"Besides," I added "_My_ partner and I need to get started on our homework." I slightly emphasized the "my" part. It had been fun to watch Bella destroy Jasper at chess...he wasn't feeling so smug now. But she had come here to be with me!...and do homework. Well anyway- not play games with Emmet.

"This is Bella, Edward?" My mother asked. She was more subtle than Emmet but every bit as curious to meet the girl. I suppressed my smile and formally introduced my lab partner to my parents.

"You have a beautiful home." Bella remarked politely after the introductions.

"And you have a mean chess game" My father replied genuinely complimentary but also subtly fishing for information. He would have liked to say more about the game but admitting Bella's play was beyond normal excellence was also admitting that the game and Jasper's ability were beyond normal to start with.

"I used to do chess tournaments as a kid" Bella shrugged it off.

_Her eyes really do glow_ my mother was thinking now that she was able to look at Bella directly. _She doesn't _look_ dangerous _she mused silently. _I__n fact she's lovely. _"How are you enjoying Fork's so far?" My mother asked hoping Bella would be willing to speak with her.

Bella gave my mother a mischievous smile. "Honestly?" she asked twinkling.

"Of course." My mother replied charmed.

"I loathe it." Bella replied wrinkling her nose as if Forks had an impleasant odor. "I'm _desperately_ afraid that I am either going to die of a vitamin D deficiency or become clinically depressed." Bella's tone was solemn but her eyes were laughing as she predicted her morbid future.

"Yes, I imagine you had better plans for your life than perishing in Forks Washington." My mother chuckled.

"Well in all reality not much better" Bella replied consideringly. "...So, I guess, why not perish here as opposed to anywhere else?"

I tried not to wince at their banter....But discussing Bella's demise in Forks wasn't something that I could find amusing at this point. It was still far too likely that I would be the cause of said demise.

Of course Carlisle always sensitive to those around him noticed my reaction. "What, no great life ambition?" He asked Bella partly to distract me. "I'm disappointed." he teased.

"Oh I have an ambition." Bella replied. "Just not a very _great_ one."

"Why? What is your life ambition?" I asked. Carlisle's ploy had worked. I forgot my discomfort and was totally focused on the girl again.

Bella regarded me quizzically. My tone was too heavy for the lighthearted conversation she and my parents had been having. It was a problem, I was always too intense where the girl was concerned. Bella was firm and decided when she finally answered me. "My ambition is to live and die without warranting so much as a footnote on the pages of history."

We all laughed. Pretending it was still a joke-even though we knew she meant it. "No not very _great_." I agreed recognizing the double entendre in her previous statement.

She shot me a quick smile silently praising my astuteness. "We should get to work." she said choosing to end the subject. "I told Uncle Charlie I would be home early."

For the next hour we worked on our project. Behind our home we had converted an old barn that was original to the property, into a garage. It housed an impressive collection of automobiles and an impressive collection of power tools. Generally the garage was recognized as the uncontested domain of my sister Rosalie but for that hour Bella and I were at home. At first I was hesitant to let her use the equipment. I knew my self-control would never survive her cutting herself. I got over it quick though. For one thing she wasn't taking no for an answer and for another it was obvious that she knew her way around power tools. Once I stopped being overprotective we shared a very enjoyable hour.

Despite being a sort of ongoing joke it turned out we were good at being partners. We talked very little during the process -working together in natural sync-uncannily able to anticipate each others needs. Part of me wanted to question Bella more about herself but a larger part was just happy enjoying the companionable silence. It was something I had never been able to experience with anyone else. Admittedly it was nice to be able to hold my breath the majority of the time as well.

I felt myself becoming less content as we finished the project. This was it. I would have no further excuse to insinuate myself into Bella's life. I felt like I should be proud of myself. Perhaps even exultant. I had been a part of Bella's life for a week and alone with her for an entire hour and not killed her. Our finished project stood like a small monument to my accomplishment. Strange then that the only emotion I felt was a curious flatness. It was as though I could see all the color draining out of my existence. I resolved to ask Mr Banner if I could have our project back when he was finished grading it. It would be nice to have a tangible reminder of my time with Bella.

Bella was packing up to leave when Jasper and Rosalie came out to the garage. They were acting nonchalant about it but I knew their intent was to check up on me. (Rosalie also wanted to check up on the garage.) Jasper surprised me a little when I realized that he also was disappointed that we wouldn't be having any more contact with Bella. I half heartedly smiled at him when I realized it was because he wanted a rematch.

Rosalie was studying our completed project. She hadn't been able to find anything wrong with the garage to chastise me about so she had turned to my project as the next most likely source to annoy me with. "This is it?" She gestured disdainfully at our work "This..._thing_?"

Bella paused in the midst of swinging her back-pack up "Whats wrong with it?" She asked surprised by the intensity of Rosalie's contempt. Personally I had barely noticed. Rosalie's negativity on my behalf had been very consistent as of late.

"It's pathetic." Rosalie replied. "I can't believe how much time Edward has wasted on this." _And on you._ She added silently

"Just ignore her Bella." I interjected hoping to deflect Rosalie's ire. "It's fine." I added.

"Well I think that it is horrible." Rosalie sniffed.

"Thats because you have no soul." Bella said shaking her head sadly.

Rosalie bared her teeth. She looked terrifying. Underwhelmed Bella said her goodbyes and casually headed out of our garage to her car. Jasper and I were forced to hold an infuriated Rosalie down to keep her from attacking. She proved a true challenge. It's hard to hold down a vampire when you are laughing that hard.


	9. Chapter Eight Part 1

First thing Monday morning I went early to Mr Banner's class and turned in our science project. Then I went to the main office and withdrew from my physical sciences class. Ms. Cope was reluctant to allow the change in my schedule. There was no science class available to transfer to and it didn't make sense to her to drop the class mid-semester before I received credit for it. But after excessive amounts of charm on my part, and confirmation from my parents, (whom she eventually called) I was allowed to take a study hour in place of my science class. I was informed that in order to graduate I would have to make the class up over the summer or take an extra class my senior year. Thanks Carlisle. Just what I had wanted. More high school.

After that I lived in a void. My existence as a vampire had always had a degree of monotony to it. It was inevitable as about every ten years my family and I relived the same cycle. High school, and college were supposed to be one time events that occur in your youth to prepare you for your future life. For us it was different. We kept going around and around preparing for the future that we all knew would never come. Not that it was all bad. As a family we truly loved each other and had a lot of good times. We traveled, acquired every new toy that hit the market, hunted, ran, and played in the great outdoors to our content, and were blessed with Emmet's sunny nature, Alice's natural exuberance, and Esme's and Carlisle's love. Still, the sheer repetitiveness of our situation made a certain staleness of existence unavoidable. But this was different. I knew that I wasn't feeling my usual ennui. Listless and restless by turn for the first time in my existence I felt truly lifeless.

I was nonetheless, completely true to my word. I had absolutely no contact with the girl despite how...dissatisfied it made me. It should have helped that she appeared to accept my defection with total indifference, but somehow that just made it worse. Alice had an uncomfortable moment when she ran into Bella Tuesday morning of the first week. "Hi Alice," Bella had smiled cheerfully. "What happened to Edward yesterday?" Alice had been forced to pretend she was deaf and dumb while she stepped around Bella and continued sliding through the overcrowded school hallway. I saw through Alice's eyes how shocked the girl was for a moment but she hid it quickly and hadn't given any indication that she was aware of any of our existences since.

Of course not being able to talk to Bella didn't mean that I stopped watching her. I had plenty of excuses for why I was doing this. They were all perfectly reasonable and entirely untrue. The real reason was just that I liked to. It made me...not happy...but less apathetic? School used to be something to be endured. Now it was the only time of day that held any interest for me. The only time I could feed my Bella Swan obsession. Sunny days and weekends I did little more than mope. Jasper had given over trying to analyze my condition and had resorted to the vampire version of medicating me. Anytime we were together he would send me wave after wave of comforting numbness. We weren't together much though. With my emotional morass he could barely stand to be around me. I didn't blame him. I couldn't stand me either.

As I watched Bella I was impressed at how despite the short time that she had been here that she had managed to impact a sizable amount of the student body. A lot of children at the school evidenced a new desire to be a little more considerate of others spurred by Bella's example. How unusual to see someone make 'being nice' a trend. Not that I thought it was deliberate on Bella's part. While universally benevolent she could still be a little scary when displeased. Those around her craved her attention while simultaneously fearing the biting scorn she had for their typical teenage pettiness. She was genuinely amicable to everyone yet I could tell that she held them all at arms length. Even the few children who proclaimed themselves her friends found her elusive and actually knew very little about her. Mike Newton irritated me no end with his determination to be the one to change that. Despite being entirely unworthy of her regard, Newton was relentless in pursuing it. After the movie debacle he hadn't tried to ask her out again but instead had taken to following her around like a lost puppy. In his mind he believed that he was waiting for the right moment to ask again. I just thought he was being a coward. As the months wore on my irritation with him increased as he became more and more proprietary in his thinking. To his mind they were already a couple even if it hadn't been formally verbalized. The only thing that kept me sane (and possibly Newton alive) was that Bella was obviously as indifferent to him as she was to me.

Thanks to Jasper I now recognized the emotion I felt every time Mike Newton approached Bella Swan. I was jealous. It was as simple and as complex as that. I was jealous that he _could_ talk to her. Jealous that he was human and didn't have to fight himself not to hurt her. Jealous that he might actually have a chance with her. Jealous...I finally admitted to myself, because _I_ wanted a chance with her.

It was early March, only two months after my initial Bella Swan ban, when I finally recognized the truth. That night holed up in my room I had it out with myself. I had spent close to a century turning down the amorous advances of mortals and immortals alike. My mother worried incessantly that I had been changed too young. That I was incapable of the deep attachment that the other members of my family had formed with their mates. The truth was I wasn't opposed to the idea of romantic love, I had just never met anyone who particularly interested me in that way. So...it was probably karma that the first time I felt a real attraction to anyone it would be someone who was as indifferent to me as I was to everyone else.

I knew that if I were human I would pursue the girl. (Even if it meant making as big an idiot out of myself as Mike Newton did.) But...I wasn't. And as if my being a vampire wasn't enough it certainly didn't help any that I had fixated on the one human that I most wanted to feed on. Not to even mention that I had been banned from her by both my guardian and hers. Honestly--if my goal had been to sabotage my own personal happiness I don't think I could have done a better job at it--falling for a human I couldn't even be friends with. I didn't need Alice to see my probable future if I continued down this road. With grim finality I recognized there were only two real possibilities. Either I would eventually get too close to the girl and kill her, or I would be reduced to being a full-time stalker. An existence spent as little more than a lurker on the peripherals of Bella Swan's short human life. The first possibility was too awful to contemplate and as for the second? For a moment I contemplated it. The idea did have some appeal...but wow...that was just what every girl wanted--her very own personal vampire stalker. 'Creepy Cullen', just like Mike Newton had thought.

So there it was. My infatuation was not only ridiculous but also hopeless. Fortunately, I believed like with everything else in life that I had a choice. With a little self control I could overcome my attraction. It shouldn't even be that hard. After all wasn't my whole existence about controlling my baser instincts? Compared to not killing her not caring for her should be a snap. And I knew what I needed to do. There was to be no more listening, no more jealousy, no more moping. My career as a stalker was over. I would start immediately. Tomorrow. Make it a clean break.

*********

For the rest of the night I spent time with my family. I was a recovering addict and isolation was the last thing I needed. There was a huge storm outside. It was loud enough to cover even the noise we were capable of making and made some "extreme" sport options available. Emmet, Jasper, and I engaged in a no holes barred wrestling match for most of the night. We were careful to only tear up a small section of the forest and the exertion felt great, even in my condition. After that I played the piano for Esme and then discussed several of her most recent visions with Alice. I tried to act as normal as possible and was disturbingly cheerful all night. I didn't fool Jasper of course. He knew I was faking it and was confused as to why. But I didn't care. It was part of my therapy. And I assumed if I kept up the happy act long enough eventually it would become reality.

When morning came I was more resolved than ever. No more stalking I firmly told myself. I repeated it like a mantra over and over again all the way to school through the sheeting rain. I parked in the first available spot and jumped out of my car ready to face the day a reformed man. Usually I began my day by locating Bella trough the minds of others. But not today. I wasn't looking. Which is how I missed that she was standing directly in my line of vision just two cars down. When I looked up for the first time I was staring her directly in the eyes. Of course. The day I decide to change I start out by having more contact with her than I had had for two months.

I couldn't help it. I felt my repressed emotions crash through me. Jasper's head jerked up and I could see the shock in his mind. _He's in love with her? That's what all of this has been about?_ Jasper had finally put it all together. I had just given him the final clue. How annoying. I was never going to hear the end of this. And love was too strong a word. I was only...mildly infatuated, and I didn't even plan to be that for long.

On the other hand, since I was going to suffer for this anyway, there was no reason not to prolong the moment. I stood while rivulets of rain soaked trough my clothes and let my eyes devour the girl. One final goodbye couldn't hurt I told myself, and frankly it was a tremendous relief to allow myself this small contact after ignoring her for so long. She hovered under a silly bubble-gum pink umbrella that I had seen her with several times before. It looked like something you would expect a four year old to own. It did seem to do the job though, and unlike me she was perfectly dry. I decided that I wasn't going to budge until Bella looked away first. Which happily she didn't seem in any hurry to do. I was content in the moment until I heard it, and then we both looked away together- in horror.

Mike Newton's car had needed new tires for awhile now. He had been putting off buying them (or making any repairs to the vehicle for that matter) in the hopes that his parents were planning to buy him a new car for his birthday. Newton had seen Bella as he turned into the parking lot and instead of slowing down, as would have been appropriate, he sped up in anticipation of seeing her. Too late he tried to slow down but because of the rain and the bald tires instead of stopping the car hydroplaned. He was heading straight for the girl.

In that moment I didn't think, I just reacted. At vampire speed I sped across the two car lengths my only focus to save Bella. I should have known that Bella wouldn't wait to be rescued though. In one fluid motion she wedged her umbrella between the two vehicles and was lowering herself to crouch behind the umbrella when I smashed into her. Not anticipating her movements I misjudged the impact and hit her far harder than I had intended. We slammed into the ground, her head bouncing off the pavement, just clear of Newton's car.

I had never been more afraid in my entire existence. Had my attempted rescue killed her? Her eyes briefly opened and she focused intently on me for one moment. "Get my umbrella," she ordered and then passed out.

I held Bella in my arms, trying not to move her and keeping her out of the inch of water that covered most of the school parking lot. Bella's umbrella was still wedged between the two cars. Miraculously it had stopped the impact and had somehow remained perfectly intact. I wasn't sure how that was possible. Had I maybe taken a part of the impact while pushing Bella out of the way? Too high for human ears to hear I asked Alice to go get the umbrella. She had to push Newton's car minutely out of the way to do so, but Mike didn't notice. He was too busy fighting with his air bag.

Alice got the umbrella and then called Carlisle. He decided to come himself in the ambulance. Bella was alive and all of her vitals were fine but I was pretty sure I had given her a concussion. I was trying not to think about how bad it might be. It made me panicked in a way I had never felt before. What if I had made one of the most brilliant people on the planet brain-dead? What if she never woke up? I couldn't think about it. I would go crazy and right now I needed to focus.

To distract myself I started doing damage control. I had been incredibly lucky. No-one except my family had witnessed the almost accident. Even Mike Newton had been too busy mashing on his brakes to witness my inhumanly fast sprint to save Bella. Bella had probably seen what I did, but after how hard she hit her head it was doubtful that she would remember anything. With a concussion it was unlikely anyone would take anything she had to say about the accident too seriously anyway. Emmet, Jasper, and Rosalie were still standing by my car. Rosalie was spewing vitriol into my mind, Emmet was in total shock, and Jasper was feeling strangely sympathetic. Of course he knew how I felt...

Alice used the umbrella to block the rain from Bella while we waited for the ambulance. I was confused by how the tiny child sized umbrella could so easily kept the pouring rain off all three of us. It was as though an invisible barrier was shielding us from the elements. The pink umbrella looked flimsy held in Alice's hands but I had just witnessed it stop a car. What is that thing made out of? I wondered. I made a mental note to examine it later.

Mike finally manged to get out of his car. He was shaken but not seriously hurt. Seeing Bella in my arms he stumbled towards us. Infuriated I actually growled at him baring my teeth. How dare he come anywhere near her after what he had almost done. Mike's instincts kicked in and he quickly backed up to his car and slumped onto the ground. "I'm sorry Bella," he whispered dropping his head in his hands.

"Go tell him he didn't kill her," I told Alice a few minutes later taking pity on Newton. He hadn't actually seen the accident and still thought he had hit Bella. Handing me the umbrella Alice danced over to him to explain as best she could while leaving me out of it. I was relieved a moment later to hear a siren. My mind felt like one of those wheels mice run around and around on. I kept cycling through all the possible injuries I may have caused Bella. A few minutes later the ambulance arrived and I was able to relinquish Bella to Carlisle's capable care. I felt curiously bereft laying Bella on the stretcher. My arms already missed the light weight. I felt like I needed to be holding her. It made me feel like I was doing something proactive. Like I was helping...and besides I liked the way she felt in my arms.

I joined Carlisle in the ambulance leaving my siblings and Mike Newton to explain what had happened to the crowd that was beginning to gather. I quickly explained the situation to my father as we rode to the hospital "She needs x-rays immediately," I told him quietly. "I hit her hard."

My father paused in his ministrations, as usual he read my emotional state easily. _Edward, _he thought,_ she would have died if you hadn't interfered. You saved her life even if you did give her a concussion. _

_"_No I didn't," I whispered back. "She saved herself...I just got in the way....and hurt her." The frustration was clear in my voice.

_Shes going to be fine,_ my father assured me. _We will be at the hospital in a just a minute and I will get her into x-rays immediately. Don't worry! _Carlisle paused for a moment, _h__ow are you doing? _he asked cautiously.

"I'm fine," I answered softly, and it was true. I hadn't even been aware of my thirst throughout the entire experience.


	10. Chapter Eight Part 2

I couldn't figure it out. There was nothing unusual about it. It was just an umbrella. A flimsy, pink, car stopping umbrella.

It was Sunday night. Bella had been out for almost two days now. She was in a coma....I had cracked her skull. Not too seriously--she hadn't needed surgery or anything. But Carlisle didn't think that she would be waking up for a day or two more. He urged me to go home until she did. I wasn't going anywhere.

Chief Swan had looked frantic when he had first got to the hospital Friday morning. Even though I couldn't read his mind it was easy to see his genuine concern for his niece. Originally Charlie had been outraged to see me near Bella, but after Carlisle explained that I had pushed Bella out of the way of the car he grudgingly allowed me to stay. (Admittedly, neither Carlisle nor I mentioned that I had probably done more harm than good trying to help Bella.)

With no other outlet available to him Chief Swan had turned his impotent fury on the hapless Mike Newton. With all the citations and fines he was facing, it looked like Newton wouldn't be driving anywhere anytime soon. Charlie was probably overreacting, but I understood the emotion. He needed to be doing something that felt like helping. It was the same reason I was still holding onto the umbrella.

It was two in the morning and I was waiting in Carlisle's office when Emmet and Jasper joined me. I knew from their thoughts that Carlisle had sent them to try and get me to hunt with them. Emmet bounced in jovial as usual prepared, if necessary, to take me hunting by force. The umbrella was sitting next to the door on a small table and seeing it Emmet immediately picked it up. "Why do you have this?" he asked recognizing the umbrella from earlier.

"Put it _down_ Emmet," I told him firmly.

"Why? It's raining out. I could use an umbrella." Emmet smiled tauntingly at me and opened the umbrella. He began twirling it over his head, "Tut, Tut, Edward looks like rain," he chanted in a childish sing-song voice. Jasper snickered.

Normally it would have been funny. Emmet meant for it to be funny. But I just wasn't capable of that right now. I had almost killed the girl I was infatuated with and the only thing I could do to help her was keep the damn umbrella safe. Moving at lightning speed I went to snatch Bella's umbrella from Emmet trying to be careful so I wouldn't break it. As soon as I got close enough to grab it it was like I ran into an invisible force field. I bounced back a bit from the force of it breaking one of Carlisle's office chairs in the process. _What the..._I heard from both Jasper's and Emmet's minds.

It would have been more mine and Jasper's style to discuss what had just happened but Emmet had other ideas. Not bothering with the door he dropped straight out of the window still holding Bella's umbrella. The instant his feet touched ground he was running towards the forest surrounding the hospital. After a brief hesitation Jasper and I followed suit.

We started out easy. Small rocks and limbs thrown at only a fraction of our true strength but as the night wore on we were hurtling boulders, trees, and occasionally each other with full vampire force. But it didn't matter what we threw. The little umbrella repelled everything without so much as a scratch to its shiny bubblegum pink exterior.

"It's magic," Emmet finally concluded.

"Theres no such thing," Jasper disagreed shifting through his mind for a more logical explanation.

"There's no such thing as vampires either," Emmet pointed out.

Jasper's cell phone rang saving him from having to answer. It was Alice. We could all hear her chirping voice speaking to Jasper at vampire speed, "You all need to come home right now. None of you are going to want to miss this." Alice sounded excited even by her standards. " And bring the umbrella. Eleazar wants to see it."

"Eleazar is here?" Jasper questioned in surprise.

"All the Denali's," Alice replied happily. "You are not going to believe what Eleazar has to tell us," she added. "Oh, and make sure that Edward comes home," Alice must have seen my indecision about returning to the hospital. I had already been gone for several hours and the need to check on Bella was becoming urgent. "Carlisle just left the hospital and Bella is fine," this Alice directed at me. "Besides Edward your the one that should be most interested to hear what Eleazar has to say."

"It's about Bella?" Jasper guessed.

"Come home!" Alice demanded and hung up.

*******

We weren't far from home so we arrived in a matter of minutes. Alice met us at the door and ushered us in quickly. My entire family was there including our adopted cousins the Denali coven. I could hear from my family's minds that everyone already knew that I was in love with Bella Swan. Thanks Jasper. I was definitely never going to live this down.

I was surprised that Emmet hadn't started teasing me yet, but I guess he had been too distracted playing with the "magic" umbrella. The reactions in the room were widely divergent. Alice was happy for me and Esme was overjoyed. Rosalie and Tanya were both upset. Most of my family was amused but indifferent. The reactions that really caught my attention were from Carlisle and Eleazar. They were both scared for me.

"Edward," Eleazar greeted me with a nod. "I hear you have an interesting friend."

"Isabella Swan...," I agreed slowly.

Eleazar nodded. He was thinking about Carlisle's call from two months previous right before I had been banned from Bella. I had been avoiding Carlisle a lot the last couple of months so I had never picked up on it before, but apparently Eleazar had warned Carlisle about the girl. I had always wondered why Carlisle had never followed up on his promise to research Bella...but apparently he had.

"I want you all to understand that I don't know how much of this is true," Eleazar began. "When I originally heard this story, I laughed it off. I thought it was a myth. It wasn't until I talked to Carlisle about Edward's friend two months ago that I had any reason to believe different." Eleazar paused, "as some of you may know, I lived with the Volturi for many years."

"You did?" Jasper interrupted surprised that the gentle Eleazar could ever have been a part of the vicious predators he remembered from his earlier existence.

"Yes," Eleazar affirmed with a small smile at Jasper's surprise. "I have a talent that Aro found valuable. However, that is another story and not really relevant to the matter at hand. Suffice to say that I worked closely with Aro for far more of my existence than I care to admit." Eleazar paused, his mind began to wander down the dark path that his life had been with the Volturi, but then he purposely stopped himself and refocused.

"Aro was always so obsessed with growing the Volturi," Eleazar began again. "It pleased him to call the members of the Volturi his family...but it was really an army that he was creating. Aro collected powerful and uniquely gifted vampires from all over the world. I always wondered what his goal was. Early on it became obvious that no other coven could hope to stand against him...so I always had a hard time believing that his only desire was to police the vampire world. I found myself questioning...was Aro merely power hungry?...or was there some other reason for his obsession? One morning, half joking, I mentioned my concern to one of my friends, a ancient vampire who had been a longstanding member of the Volturi guard. In answer he told me a story that I believe years later Carlisle heard an abbreviated version of as well. Keep in mind that when I heard the story it was little more than a legend. I put little store in it and other vampires who over-heard the tale openly scoffed. I think though, that the story may relate to your friend."

"So tell us the story..." Emmet was getting impatient. Rosalie, Esme and Alice frowned at him and he visibly shrunk into his seat.

Eleazar smiled and taking pity on Emmet told the story quickly, "thousands of years ago, living amongst the humans were very powerful beings that were virtually indistinguishable from normal humans. These beings often smelled far better to a vampire than other humans do. Sometimes they smelled so much better that the desire to drink one could drive a vampire to insane acts. Ancient vampires even a had a name for these beings. They called them _la tua cantante_, singers, because their blood sings to our kind. The problem was that these singers where not normal human victims. As I mentioned before they were very powerful....and it wasn't always the vampire who was the victor. At some point, these singers began to ban together, possibly in defense, to destroy our kind. According to my friend, vampires almost became extinct. Aro, he said, created the Volturi to fight against these beings."

Eleazar paused again taking in our stunned looks with another smile. "It worked supposedly. Banded together the Volturi eliminated the threat. Saved the world for vampires." Eleazar added wryly. "My friend said that while most have grown complacent--non-believing even, Aro himself remains vigilant. That is why he still builds the Volturi."

"So...besides being unusually edible, what are these beings? What makes them so powerful? What exactly can they _do_?" As usual it was Jasper who got right to the heart of the matter.

"No one knows what they are," Eleazar replied. "My friend said that the humans believed they were Gods." Both Eleazar and Carlisle chuckled at that. "As for what they can do....I was hoping that Edward could answer that question," he said gesturing towards the umbrella I was still carrying.

All eyes turned to me. Quickly I filled everyone in on the last two months ending with our adventure tonight with Bella's umbrella.

"So...her eyes glow, she is immune to your talents, (with the possible exception of Jasper) she can make you feel mild physical pain without touching you, she is very intelligent, she dispatched four would be attackers in a matter of seconds, and she has a magic umbrella?" Eleazar summed up.

"Doesn't sound too threatening," Rosalie was scornful. "I fail to see how any of that would do her much good against one of us."

"We don't know how Bella did what she did to those men," I pointed out. "She may be more powerful than you think."

"Yeah if nothing else she could hide under the umbrella," Emmet added. "Nothing is getting through that thing."

Everyone laughed as Emmet had intended. "May I?" Eleazar asked gesturing towards the umbrella.

I handed it to him. Curios he turned the umbrella round and round examining it from every angle. After a moment he came to the same conclusion I had. It looked entirely ordinary. Eleazar decided to put it to the test.

"We should probably do this outside," I told him. The umbrella may be indestructible. But, Esme's furniture wasn't.

Still examining the umbrella Eleazar's thoughts switched suddenly to something else. "Carlisle, how long do you think that this girl will be out?" he asked.

"Not more than a day or two. Why?" Carlisle replied.

"Is it possible that you could arrange for me to see her?" he asked.

"Probably--If we could distract her Uncle...." Carlisle's eyebrow was cocked, silently questioning Eleazar's intentions.

"I have a talent." Eleazar answered the unasked question. "Judging from Alice's and Edward's experience there is a good chance it won't work. But if it does...I will probably be able to tell you what Edward's friend is capable of."

I could see in Eleazar mind how it worked. His talent was the ability to recognize talent in others. It worked best with vampires, but he was also sometimes able to see potential in humans-- generally in those who were very gifted. It definitely explained why Aro had kept him around.

"We don't need to distract Charlie," I pointed out. "Seeing him would probably work just as well as seeing Bella."

"Yes, very likely." Eleazar agreed nodding thoughtfully. "Well...shall we see about this umbrella?" he asked.

The interest level in the room peaked. Even for Rosalie who practically loathed Bella, magical umbrellas constituted something of a novelty. _There never going to believe this_...Emmet thought, as we all filed out.

*******

I was planning to head back to the hospital when Carlisle again intervened in my life. He insisted that I accompany my siblings to school assuring me that he would keep a special watch on Bella and call me if there was any change in her condition. Eleazar was going to accompany Carlisle to the hospital. His hope was to see either Bella, Charlie or both. He also agreed to call when and if his talent revealed anything. Sulkily I went to school. To be fair, I knew that Carlisle was right. Going to school was the correct way to keep up our act. People would question if I skipped school to loiter at the hospital all day. But still, I had never found my teenage charade more irksome.


	11. Chapter 9

"She is coming out of it," Carlisle told me stepping soundlessly into his small office at the hospital. "She talks in her sleep," he added with a smile.

I turned off the music I had been attempting to distract myself with and pulled the buds out of my ears more for the sake of courtesy than inability to hear. "Can I see her?" I asked.

Going to school today had been an exercise in patience, or maybe torture endurance was a better analogy. Time had slowed to a crawl and I had felt every lengthened second. When school had finally released I had, without bothering to discuss it with them, ditched my siblings and hurried to the hospital. On a whim, my one stop had been to pick up some flowers for Bella. It had seemed like something a human would do. I had no idea what would be appropriate so I pleased myself and bought a bouquet of Freesia. They smelled like the girl. Or perhaps it was more correct to say that she smelled like them. Regardless, turned out it was a good idea. Between Carlisle's constant hovering, and an unexpected and unwelcome visit from Eleazar, Charlie had apparently seen a little too many Cullen's today. I heard from my fathers mind that he was upset and likely to prohibit me from seeing his niece. However, when he saw the flowers he had grudgingly allowed me to deliver them. I only caught a glimpse of the girl before being banned to Carlisle's office, but it was enough to calm what had been a steadily growing ache.

The worst part was that it had all been for naught. Eleazar hadn't been able to use his gift with either Bella or Charlie. The only thing he was certain of was that they were both powerful shields. No kidding.

I could see in Carlisle's mind that he had come for a specific purpose. He wanted to ask me something, but he wasn't sure if he should.

"Just ask," I whispered, tired of his indecision.

Taking an unnecessary breath Carlisle looked me in the eye "Jasper said....do you really love her?" he finally asked me.

I looked away. "I don't know...I'm trying not to," I replied honestly.

Carlisle's mind took a strange twist surprising me enough to look up. _I'm sorry Edward. I shouldn't have insisted that you stay away from her. _Carlisle would have continued but right then his pager went off. "I have to go. It's an emergency," he told me instantly distracted. He started to leave, but then hesitated at the door. "If your quiet," he said softly avoiding my gaze, "you can probably see Bella...Charlie is asleep." Carlisle flashed me a conspiratorial smile and then was gone.

In absolute silence I glided into Bella's hospital room. Charlie was sleeping in the corner in a makeshift bed Carlisle had provided him when he had refused to leave his niece even at night. Charlie was faintly snoring and Bella was tossing restlessly, also asleep. I felt a huge surge or relief as a heavy weight seemed to lift from me. Carlisle was right, she was no longer in a coma.

The room was dim with the unnatural green lighting hospitals always had at night. I smiled thinking that the room looked far more like the scene from a horror movie than my mother's home did, despite the fact that our home housed seven vampires. Bella looked pale....gray in the odd green light. Her hair was matted and sticking out at odd angles and her face looked pinched as though she were still in pain. But none of that changed the fact that she was heartbreakingly beautiful. I held my breath and stood still as a statue in the shadows of the room torn between feeling guilty for hurting her, a little weird about stalking her, and simply happy to be in her presence.

Concerned about my thirst, I was about to sneak out again when Bella spoke. "Edward," she said clearly.

I jumped, thinking that she had finally woke up. "Bella?" I whispered ghosting to her bedside. I prayed that Charlie would stay asleep for just a little while longer.

"Edward," she said again, only this time it was more a sigh and I realized Bella was talking in her sleep. Talking...and dreaming about me.

Since I had met Bella, there had been a small part of my mind that knew, despite my unwillingness to admit it, that I had an attraction for this small human that went far beyond blood lust. Over the last month it had felt as if parts of me were slipping away. As though this strange child was claiming me piece by piece. But up until this moment I had still managed to hold an essential part of myself aloof. I had still, in essence, been my own man. Yet, it had only taken one garbled utterance and everything was changed now. Whatever I had had left of me...my soul or whatever it was that made me me, I lost hold of it. I knew that this wasn't curiosity, nor was I infatuated, and it wasn't about blood-lust either. I was in love with this girl with everything that I was--and it would be that way for eternity. Isabella Marie Swan owned me.

Without thinking, I took a shuddering breath. For a second I panicked but then was surprised to realize that I felt little blood lust. For the moment, while I drowned in these new emotions, the monster lay dormant. Of course I knew that I still represented a great danger to Bella. My physical strength alone could easily kill her--even if it wasn't my intention to do so. The fact that she was lying in this bed was proof of that. However, I had a knew confidence that I could master the blood-lust. I had to. I knew that I would never have the strength to leave her, and hurting her was unthinkable.

Cautiously I took another breath. It was painful...but manageable. I stood there for hours, breathing and thinking. Reviewing Eleazar's words, it occurred to me that maybe I didn't need to be as afraid of hurting her as it would seem. I still had no idea what she was, or what she may be capable of, but I did think it safe to assume that she wasn't a normal human child. I took some comfort in the idea that she may have some defenses against me. I would choose being hurt myself over hurting her any day of the week. Several times I was forced to hide in the small bathroom attached to Bella's room while a nurse made a routine check-up. I was happy to hear in their minds their complete satisfaction with Bella's progress. It was likely she would be able to go home in a day or two.

As the night wore on I became more hopeful as I realized that I was becoming desensitized to the smell of her blood. Every minute I spent beside her bed the blood lust became easier to control. I doubted that Bella would ever feel for me what I felt for her, in fact it was likely based on past experience that she may actually actively dislike me,but at least now with my new found control and Carlisle's tacit permission, I could maybe at least spend some time with her. Perhaps, if I was lucky, we could even be friends.

At four in the morning, I heard Carlisle approaching. Standing in the doorway he regarded me quizzically as I stared at Bella. _Its time to leave now Edward,_ he told me silently. He was right. Slowly I turned and made my way to Carlisle's side. Looking me in the eye Carlisle instantly recognized the change in me. _You love her._ It wasn't a question it was a statement. I nodded. Carlisle's mind fluctuated between happiness for me and concern for me. The happiness won. _I'm glad_, he thought simply. I smiled my thanks and left the hospital. On the way home I hunted. I was resolved to be as careful as possible and that would probably mean frequent hunting trips. My siblings were waiting for me when I got home. I wasn't looking forward to another day at school but I knew it had to be easier than yesterday was.

*********

Bella was released from the hospital during the day while I was at school. Carlisle had been unhappy with the situation. He would have preferred that Bella remain a few days for observation. Charlie however, had insisted. That evening I listened to Carlisle's mind as he stewed over Bella's early release. I was amused and strangely pleased to here that Carlisle regarded Bella in almost a paternal manner now that he knew how I felt. I was upset with Bella's early release too. Like Carlisle I worried that she may not be fully recovered, and also I was disappointed that my plan to spend the night at her bedside desensitizing myself was now shot. My disappointment was tempered however with the knowledge that there was a very real possibility that after one very long month I would probably be able to talk to Bella at school later this week.

Wednesday morning in the middle of my first hour of class I was called to the school office. This had never happened to me before and with concern I immediately began scanning the minds of Mrs. Cope and the rest of the staff while I walked the short distance to the main office. I was somewhat assured to realize that no one was thinking of me or my family at all. When I arrived at the office Mrs. Cope beckoned me over and handed me a new schedule.

"Your father called us this morning," she informed me brightly. "He told us how your allergies were giving you trouble from all those chemicals in the science room, you poor dear." She smiled sympathetically at me. "We are glad to hear that your new prescription will take care of the allergies and since the problem is all taken care of, your father was very insistent about wanting you placed back in your science class. That," she pointed to the paper in my hand, "is your new schedule." "It's just like the old one," she added helpfully. "Dr Cullen also talked with Mr. Banner. They worked out an agreement so that you can make up your missed work and not have to take summer school." Mrs. Cope beamed at me as though she were personally responsible for this. "You should talk to Mr. Banner about that," she added when I didn't respond.

Mrs. Cope paused, trying to decide if she had forgot anything. "Well I suppose thats all," she concluded reluctantly, unable to think of any other reason to detain me. "Have a nice day Edward," she finished fluttering her lashes at me. _So beautiful_ she added mentally.

As usual, I was a little repulsed by Mrs. Cope so I left the office quickly. It hadn't been very subtle of Carlisle but I was amused to know that I had not only his blessing but also apparently his aid in pursuing a relationship with Bella. I wasn't sure what Bella's reaction would be to find me thrust back into her life when she again returned to school...but I guess I was going to find out. Carlisle hadn't left me much choice.

In science Mr Banner took a vindictive satisfaction in assigning me what he thought was an impossible work load to "catch up". I would have it done by morning. Idly I wondered if a week would be long enough to wait to turn it in.

Thursday I carried on as though everything was normal but internally I hummed with impatience. I hope she comes tomorrow was practically my theme song. Friday she was back in school. I could finally talk to her. I was scared to death.

I vacillated about approaching Bella all day until the matter became moot; lunch was over and it was time for science. I felt as cowardly as Mike Newton. On the other hand, it had probably been better that I didn't approach her. Bella had spent the day being practically mobbed by solicitous and curious friends. Mike Newton had been the first and most obnoxious of the bunch. He even asked her out to dinner to "make it up" to her. Who knew that dinner with Mike Newton could make up for him almost killing you...and what a moron to finally decide that _this_ was the right moment. Bella's friends had expected a detailed account of the accident, but the only thing they got was a shrug. "I don't really know what happened. It was just so fast..." I didn't know if Bella was lying or if she really didn't remember the events of the accident, but I was incredibly relieved that she was keeping our secret regardless.

On my way to science, I carried with me my backpack and in it I had Bella's umbrella. If nothing else I still needed to return that to her. Emmet had asked tentatively if we could keep the umbrella. He doubted we would ever lay hands on a more fascinating toy...I didn't even deign to reply to this request.

I came to class early and took my seat. "Ms Swan," Mr Banner called as Bella came in a minute later. "How are you feeling?" he asked genuinely concerned. Mr. Banner may not be the brightest human, but he recognized the best chance he had at winning the county science fair when he saw her. To him Bella was the perfect student. _Bright as the Cullens,_ he thought, _only not so strange_....

"I'm good," Bella replied with a smile.

"Well its nice to have you back," Mr Banner was beaming.

"Um...Thanks," Bella replied a little startled by his enthusiasm.

Bella turned to sit down and saw me for the first time. She didn't say anything but the look on her face spoke for her. It went from shocked, to pleased, to confused, to pokerface in two seconds flat.

Regaining her calm Bella continued to her seat next to me without further hesitation. Leaning back in her chair she casually regarded me. "Where's my umbrella?" she asked.

Well that was direct. "I have it," I said fishing around in my backpack. I hesitated a moment handing it back slowly. "So...where do you get an umbrella like this?" I asked trying to match her casual tone.

"Dollar store?" she shrugged turning away to hide the smile I saw in the mind of the boy sitting at the table next to ours.

"I was hoping to find one that worked as well as yours." I stared at her pointedly trying to communicate that I knew about the umbrella.

A small satirical smile played about her lips, "I don't know Edward. It was a gift. My Mother gave it to me." she shrugged and looked away again.

Mr Banner started class effectively and irritatingly ending the discussion. I pondered her response all through class quickly recognizing that I had missed the most obvious clue to who or what Bella was. When Mr Banner finally stopped talking I turned to Bella quickly before she could leave for her next class. "Bella, who is your Mother?" I asked.


	12. Chapter 10 Part 1

"_Bella, who is your Mother?" I asked._

A strange, not really amused smile twisted Bella's face. "That's a difficult question to answer, Edward....She has multiple personalities," the girl's tone was faintly sarcastic. I could tell that whoever her mother was, it made Bella unhappy....but she was also resigned to it. I understood this. It was exactly how I felt about being a vampire.

"Multiple personalities?" I questioned hoping for more information.

"Why do you want to know?" she parried.

"I just realized that your mother is the key to what makes you different," I replied seriously and quietly. I didn't want anyone overhearing this conversation.

For a moment the girl looked a little panicked but then her face relaxed. "Took you long enough," she said with a small teasing smile, but then she looked away again. The smile disappeared, and a slight frown replaced it. She gestured for me to follow her and we silently left the classroom. I was surprised when she didn't walk toward the gym which was her next class but instead headed toward the parking lot. "Your father says that I'm not allowed to participate in any rigorous activity for at least two weeks," Bella said with a slight roll of her eyes. Apparently, she wasn't taking her condition as seriously as Carlisle did. "Translated that means I don't have to go to gym class." Bella flashed me a satisfied smile. Being able to skip gym must please her even if Carlisle's diagnosis didn't. "How do you feel about ditching your last hour?" she questioned.

"I'm fine with that," I replied surprised, but also gratified.

"Well then, would you like to step into my office?" she asked theatrically opening her car door for me and bowing me in. Smiling I sat down and waited for her to join me.

The girl sat next to me in her car silently starring out the window with a slight frown again. I could tell she was gathering her thoughts and I didn't mind. I needed a moment too--to get myself under control being in a confined space with the girl.

"Why did you do it?" she finally asked. "Why did you try to save me? It must have been a huge risk for you to take."

"So you do remember what happened," I replied.

"Of course I remember. How else would I have known that you have my umbrella?" she asked sounding a little irritated with me. She knew I was stalling. "Why did you do it? Why would you take a risk like that?" she asked again.

"I wasn't really worried about Newton's car hurting me," I hedged.

"Thats not what I meant and you know it," she retorted.

"What did you mean?" I asked resolving to at least find out what she knew first before we had this discussion.

She looked directly at me and her voice became more intense. "Do you know how fast you had have been running to do what you did? Does the phrase faster than a speeding bullet mean anything to you? What if someone had seen you?" she demanded. "You could have been exposed!" The girl was glaring at me and her voice was shaking with anger as she finished.

I had been expecting Bella to be angry with me for almost killing her when she had been perfectly capable of saving herself, but I had not expected her to be mad at me for almost giving myself away. It was as if Bella had suddenly morphed into my sister Rosalie. "Exposed?" I asked cautiously.

"Don't be coy Edward." The girl was irritated with me again. "I know what you are. Your just lucky after that little stunt that nobody else knows."

I had suspected ever since I had met her that Bella may know my secret. After hearing Eleazar's story it had seemed even more likely. Strange then, that I should still be so shocked to hear her confirm it. "How do you know?" I tried to ask calmly, still irrationally hoping that this was some kind of misunderstanding.

"That your a vampire?" she asked suddenly amused for no reason that I could understand. "Charlie told me."

"How does Charlie know?" I pressed.

"Charlie... just knows things," the girl evaded. "He was a little unsure about your family. Your so different from others of your kind....but the Quileutes confirmed his suspicion. The Quileute don't like you all much," she added almost laughing.

"No they don't," I agreed lamely my mind in chaos. I jumped to what I felt was the most relevant question. "If you know all of this why are you talking to me? Why are you here?"

"You mean, why am I not running and screaming?" the girl asked amused again.

"Yes!" I replied.

"First tell me why you tried to save me," she bargained.

I hesitated. "I couldn't just stand there and let you get hurt," I finally admitted turning away myself this time.

"Why not?" she demanded.

"I don't know," I replied a little desperately still looking away. "I didn't really have time to think about it...I just reacted." I hoped that maybe someday I would be able to tell the girl that the real reason was that I love her. But five minutes into the first conversation we had had in over a month didn't really seem like the most appropriate time.

She studied me silently for a moment. "Well....I appreciate that you tried," she finally replied still ignoring my question, "but remember from now on, I can take care of myself. Besides," she added suddenly looking upset with me again, "you can't just go around saving people who are in trouble. How will you stay anonymous?"

"I don't normally," I assured her. "I'm surprised that it isn't obvious to you that I don't save people as a habit. Couldn't you tell by how rotten I am at it?" I smiled a bit self deprecatingly and shrugged.

Bella laughed. "You _could_ use some work on your technique," she teased.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you," I added more seriously.

"I'm good," she replied. "And I really am grateful," she added matching my seriousness for a moment but then she laughed again. "Actually if anything, you should apologize to Charlie. _He_ was frantic," she wrinkled her nose and her eyes danced mischievously inviting me to share the joke. I couldn't help myself from smiling back even though I really didn't find it funny. Charlie had been no more frantic than I was.

"No on second thought don't," Bella changed her mind shaking her head. "He already has enough issues with you and your family."

"I noticed," I agreed remembering my time in jail.

"I'm still not certain I understand why you did it though...Why would you take a chance like that?" she questioned.

I tried to think of a way to explain without really explaining at all. "Your not like everyone else...," I said. Well obviously. I tried again, "...and a mind is a terrible thing to waste?" I paraphrased an annoying commercial campaign from the eighties. "Regardless," I said giving up trying to explain, "you still haven't answered my question. Why _aren't_ you running and screaming? You know what I am. I think that its only fair that you tell me about yourself....who your mother is."

"Your right I guess, it would be more fair....," Bella frowned. She fidgeted, deliberating. Finally she looked me very directly and very deliberately in the eye, "maybe, I _will_ tell you about my mother someday....but you have to understand its not the sort of thing I could tell just anyone. Some things, you only tell your truest friends." The frown deepened, "Which I guess isn't really going to happen," she added with a sigh, "I can't have real friends. I'm not a safe person to be friends with."

"Neither am I," I admitted, my frown echoing hers.

"What do you mean?" she asked distracted. "I thought that you were supposed to be good, harmless, animal eating vampires." their was only a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Do you really think that the word harmless belongs in the same sentence with the word vampire?" I asked a little caustically.

"No...probably not," she said quietly more to herself. "But...I'm less harmless." Bella sighed. "You won't believe me, but its really you who should be doing the running and screaming."

"You truly believe that you are more dangerous than a vampire?" I asked trying to imagine that it might be possible. I really couldn't wrap my mind around the concept. Too many years of thinking that I represented the scariest thing out there.

"Personally...?" she asked with almost a laugh, "for the most part, I'm only as dangerous to others as they are to me. Kind of...golden rule reversed," she said with a slight grimace.

"What about you?" she asked with one of her lightning changes of topic. "I know that you aren't supposed to eat humans but I could have sworn that first day in science...." she trailed off frowning at the memory.

I stared at her unhappily. This was going to be it. She most likely wouldn't ever talk to me again after this admission. I wondered for a moment if it would be acceptable to tell her that I loved her before she shunned me, but I quickly discarded the idea. I love you and I want to suck your blood just don't work well together in the same confession.

"Your right," I admitted with remorse. "I almost killed you and everyone else in the class that day."

"Why?!" Her eyes were huge.

"You smell better to me than everyone else does," I began to explain.

"You almost killed me because I smell good?" she interrupted.

"No!, yes." I stopped talking. Trying to organize my thoughts. How to explain?

"What we do, my family and I, surviving on the blood of animals and not hurting humans?...It isn't easy." That was the understatement of the day. I tried to think of a suitable comparison. "It would be like having all your favorite foods surrounding you all the time and choosing to live off of tofu and water." Bella scrunched up her nose in disgust at my comparison. I smiled a little and it helped me to keep going.

"And with you its worse," I continued determined to make a full disclosure. "You...the way you smell...your blood? It's like a drug for me. It's actually physically painful to abstain from it. That first day...I was thirsty anyway, and...I just wasn't prepared. I have never experienced anything like that before. Your scent hit me like a wrecking ball. Not killing you that day was quit possibly the most difficult thing I have ever done."

There. The truth was out. I was in anguish. How long before she kicked _me_ out?

"Well look at the bright side," Bella said after a moment of processing. "It could have been worse. It could have been the _last_ thing you've ever done." I looked up sharply. I couldn't believe she was teasing me about this but the twinkling eyes were unmistakable, practically Bella Swan trademarks. Suddenly she frowned and I braced myself for the worst. "Does it still hurt?" she asked. "Is it painful for you to be with me now?"

"No. Well...not as bad," I admitted trying to be honest. "I've had time to adjust...And I'm not thirsty right now...."

"But?" she prompted.

"I'm still afraid I'm going to slip and hurt you," I sighed and turned to look out the window again.

"Do you think that that is very likely?" she asked the frown between her eyes again.

"I would really love to be able to tell you that it wasn't," I said a little miserably. "If that happened," I asked grasping at my one last hope, "if I slipped, is it truly possible that I will be the one who gets hurt and not you?" I asked holding my unnecessary breath.

"I don't know," she replied "I don't think that you _want_ to hurt me, and I'm not sure how that will effect things." Bella shrugged. "Just guessing I would give it a fifty-fifty."

"I'm not sure I understand," I replied. "Effect what things?"

"I'm sorry. I can't really explain," she gave me an apologetic smile. "I honestly don't know though. You would definitely be taking a risk that I might hurt you."

"I don't care about getting hurt, I care about not hurting you," I told her a little too intensely. She was staring at me with the big eyes again.

Bella looked down and sighed, "I guess it would be smarter for both of us to just walk away and not have anything further to do with each other, wouldn't it?"

"Probably," I agreed around the sudden restriction in my throat.

We both sat there for a moment. I felt a little numb. Eternity was suddenly looking like a very big bleak place. I was scared of facing a forever that felt the same as the last month and I had a sinking suspicion that it might even be worse from now on. Some part of my mind recognized that I had a million questions I wanted to ask, not the least of which were about the umbrella, but I doubted she would answer any of them and besides I wasn't sure how much it mattered if I could never see her again.

"So...are you feeling smart?" she finally asked me.

"What?" I asked. It was strange how it could be both exhilarating and irritating at the same time to always be one step behind the conversation.

"Do you want to do the smart thing and walk away?" she clarified.

"No," I admitted. "But I probably should," I added, "It's not right for me to play with your life like this."

"Don't do that," she snapped.

"What?" I asked again.

"You don't get to decide that part of it. You only get to decide for yourself if you want to take the risk. I get to decide for me. Sorry," she added. "I know that you are trying to protect me, and I do appreciate it and I shouldn't have snapped at you, but the truth is that I think that you will be in more danger than me. If we are going to think about it that way...about how this is going to effect each other?...then I don't have a choice. I have to walk away. But for me, _just _for me, I'm willing to chance it."

I really wished that I was strong enough to be the noble one. To be the one who walked away ensuring both her safety and that she would live a normal human life. (Well mostly normal....I think.) But I knew, even before the words left my mouth, that I was far too selfish. " Would you like to do something this weekend?" I asked making my decision. I was holding my breath again in anticipation. There was a good chance I had just broken the world record for oldest man in history asking out a girl for the first time.

"Um...sure," Bella replied.

* * *

A/N Hi everyone. Thanks for reading and thanks for all of the great reviews. I love getting reviews. I'm doing this for fun but I have to admit its much more fun when you review. :) Also I hope that this didn't come off as a cliffie. This was a hard section for me to write, apparently it is easier for me to do internal monalogue than dialouge despite the fact that dialouge is my favorite thing to read. Anyway it took so long to write that I finally just decided to post this part and get the rest out later. Enjoy.


	13. Chapter 10 part 2

Hi, I almost feel guilty updating with this it is so rough-draftish, but it has been forever since I last updated, and my daughter is pestering me unmercifully to get it done. I originally had a lot more planned for this chapter but it got longer than I expected, (apparently Bella and Edward have a lot to discuss.) So anyway, I guess you will all have to wait until chapter 11 for the baseball scene which this story has been leading up to. I hope you enjoy this anyway. Have a great new-year and please review.

* * *

Saturday Bella was going to be spending time with Charlie on the La Push reservation so we decided to do something together Sunday afternoon. It was probably a good thing that she was tied up Saturday because according to Alice the sun was going to be out most of the day anyway. Sunshine would have definitely reduced our "date" options and this way I had time to go hunting too.

Driving home from school Alice was doing her best imitation of a pogo stick. A fairly remarkable feat for someone who was supposed to be sitting. Alice's excitement level was so intense you could feel the hum of suppressed energy surrounding her. Her thoughts were well under control though. She wasn't letting me see anything. The closer we got to home the more wound up Alice became and the faster she bounced. I sped up to top speed wanting to get home as quickly as possible. I was getting nervous about my car.

"Edwards bringing Bella to our baseball game Sunday," Alice announced as soon as we walked in the door.

"Is that true Edward?" Esme asked surprised but pleased. She and Carlisle were lounging together on the living room couch.

"Tomorrow is going to be sunny but Sunday we are going to have a huge lightning storm. I have been seeing a baseball game all day but towards the end of my last class today the vision completely disappeared. At first I didn't understand but then I realized that it could only mean one thing. Edward is bringing Bella to the game!" Alice was dancing in place with her excitement by the time she was finished.

"I don't think that would be a very good idea," I said even though I hated squashing Alice's enthusiasm.

"Yes, can you imagine her reaction?" Emmet asked with a chuckle. Mentally he was debating if she would run screaming or just faint dead away on the spot.

"You know we can't invite a human to one of our games Alice. That would expose us. It's against the rules," Jasper's voice was gentle. He hated to dampen Alice's enthusiasm as well.

"Actually that part of it is irrelevant," I answered Jasper even though he wasn't addressing me. "She already knows that we are vampires."

"What?" Rosalie screamed at me. "What have you done Edward?!"

"I didn't do anything," I replied trying to stay calm. "It seems that she has always known."

Briefly I recapped my conversation with Bella in the car. I hesitated at the end but than felt it was only fair to tell my family everything. "Bella says that it isn't safe for me to be her friend. She claims that I'm taking a risk by choosing to be near her. I have to admit, I am having a hard believing that she may be more dangerous than us, but if it is true...then I can hardly expect you all to take that risk as well. I _have_ made plans to spend time with Bella this Sunday afternoon, but I am going to be doing it alone."

"You can't miss the game bro," Emmet was running through possible alternatives. My not being their wasn't an option to his mind. The teams would be uneven. He finally decided that Alice was right. "Just bring her if she already knows. That way we can keep you from hurting her and one of her, versus all of us, I think is good odds for the vampires."

Carlisle smiled at Emmet's logic. "He may be right Edward. It does seem like the most logical plan. Besides, if this girl is your mate, whether she is dangerous or not, she is a part of this family. If Bella is prepared to take the risk of being around us, I think that we can agree to take the risk of being around her." Carlisle briefly glanced around checking every member of the family to confirm that they agreed. Except for Rosalie, I was surprised and touched to realize that they did.

"Yes!" Alice exclaimed. The baseball vision had disappeared again.

*******

Bella and I had agreed to meet at the high school. She didn't want to explain the situation to Charlie, and I still wasn't welcome at their house anyway. The school seemed like neutral enough territory. It occurred to me that now I could now ask about that night that I couldn't get close to her house. I added that question to a list that had been steadily growing in my mind, but then rejected it. So...I was trying to stalk you and I couldn't because your house repelled me. Right. That conversation was not going to happen.

She was waiting in her car when I pulled up next to her. Alice had promised that their would be an impressive rain and lightning storm over Forks later this afternoon but right now it was just drizzling. I had told my family that if Bella wasn't interested in playing baseball with them, than I would take her to do something else, but the Alice's baseball vision had remained firmly vacant so nobody was too worried. Despite the potential threat, my family was surprisingly eager to have Bella back in our lives. Jasper had been planning chess strategies all month, Alice was happy about the idea of being able to befriend a human, Carlisle was excited to study Bella (he had been itching for the opportunity ever since he had met her), Esme was happy I had found my mate, Emmet was hoping that she had more "magic toys", and even Rosalie was relieved that I had stopped mopping around.

I tapped lightly on her window. Bella was reading and jumped in surprise. I smirked. She gestured for me to get in but I shook my head pointing to Emmet's jeep that I had borrowed. We would need it to get to the place were my family typically played baseball. For a moment I thought she was going to argue about it with me, but then she shrugged, grabbed her umbrella, and lunged out of her car for the jeep. I flashed ahead and had the door opened for her before she had taken the two full steps to Emmet's vehicle. Bella didn't even blink at my speed but instead jumped quickly inside the jeep out of the rain.

I had sped around and was sitting in the drivers seat before she finished sitting down. This time she did blink and I smiled to myself not sure why her surprise pleased me. Bella's breath was visible in the air and belatedly I realized that she must be cold. I fiddled with the controls wishing I had thought to warm the jeep up before I got to the school. I realized that I wasn't used to catering to human needs and made a mental note to be more considerate in the future. (Assuming that there would be a future of course.) Fortunately, the engine was warm and the cab flooded with heat in no time. Bella folded her umbrella and then stretched her fingers out to the warm vents. "Did you enjoy your day in La Push?" I asked politely when she seemed settled.

"It was okay. A little slow," she sounded distracted. I turned to face her. "Am I actually going to be needing this?" she asked pointing to the four point harness system on her seat. "Where are we going?"

I smiled. "That depends on you," I replied. "_Alice_ seems to think that we will be playing baseball with my family this afternoon. But, really we can do whatever you would like."

"Baseball is fine," she replied. "But what does Alice have to do with it?" she asked curiously.

I hesitated. "How much do you know about vampires?" I finally asked.

"You can open car doors in the blink of an eye?" she asked with a teasing smile.

I laughed. "Aside from that?" I questioned.

Bella counted off on her fingers like she was reciting a lesson, "super speed, super strength, super enhanced senses (hearing, seeing, smell, that sort of thing,), hard rock like bodies, you drink blood, you don't sleep, most of you seem to be pretty attractive...and you smell...nice," I raised my eyebrow questioningly at the inflection in her voice at that last one, but she ignored it and hurried on. "You seem to be reasonably intelligent, temperature doesn't effect you, you sparkle in the sun like diamonds," Bella smirked, "which I would really like to see by the way, and the only way to defeat you is to rip you into little pieces and burn them. Does that cover it?"

"Almost. You forgot one thing." I replied.

"What?" she asked.

Bella looked a little too intensely interested. For a moment I debated telling her about our talents, I felt almost like I would be betraying my own kind or something ridiculous like that. On the other hand, it was kind of nice to know something she didn't for a change. "Some vampires have extra abilities," I replied. "We call them talents."

"Why only some of you?" she asked

"Thats a good question," I replied. "Carlisle thinks that it is because we bring with us into this second life our strongest human characteristics only amplified. In that regards," I added, "I suppose you could argue that we all have talents. Emmet for example was a very strong human. As a vampire he has remarkable strength. Normally though, we say a vampire is talented when their natural human abilities are enhanced into something really out of the ordinary."

"Like what?" she questioned. Curiosity was burning in her eyes.

"Well....Alice's talent is probably one the most impressive that I have ever heard of," I answered. "She can see the future."

"Wow," Bella replied, genuinely impressed.

"It's very subjective," I admitted. "When someone makes a decision, if Alice is looking, she can see the outcome of that decision. Of course people change their minds all the time so the future is constantly shifting. It can take a lot of concentration to keep up with it. Alice is an ace at predicting the weather though," I added smiling

"Did she see me coming?" Bella asked fascinated.

"No, and thats the strange part. She can't see anything at all that involves you. It's like the future entirely disappears. Thats why Alice thinks that you will be playing baseball with us. She was seeing that we would be playing a baseball game today, but then her vision abruptly disappeared when I invited you to do something with me."

"Hmmm....," Bella replied contemplatively. "So what do you do?" she asked.

"What makes you think Ihave a talent?" I asked somewhat teasingly but also a little curious at the certainty in her voice.

"I know you do," she stated with finality.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I could tell you were throwing something my way the first day of school. Alice too...well later that week anyway. I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew that whatever you were doing had some real power behind it. It was a bit scary," she admitted with a frown. "I thought I was under attack or something." Bella paused considering, "Jasper on the other hand....what he does is much more subtle. I didn't even notice he was doing it until we were playing chess. I kept getting anxious for no reason at all." Bella smiled. "It took me a while to realize that what was happening to me was external, that something outside of me was physically changing my emotions. Jasper can do that can't he? Change the way you feel?"

"Yes," I agreed. "He can sense feelings too. But, how do _you_ know?" I asked again, stubbornly this time.

"It's...a talent of mine." she said with a smirk "Vampires aren't the only ones with gifts. Anyway, stop trying to change the subject, you still haven't told me what you do."

"I can read minds," I said a little absently. I had just made a possible connection and I was trying to work it out.

"Wow," Bella repeated. It pleased me that I had impressed her, but then in typical Bella fashion she ruined it by laughing. "I can't decide,..." she wondered out-loud, "would mind reading be really cool, or just really annoying?" she quirked an eyebrow at me questioningly, but her eyes were twinkling so I knew that mostly she was teasing me.

"Both," I admitted with a lopsided smile. My mind was only partly on our conversation. Most of it was devoted to working out the puzzle.

"I can't read your mind," I told her. "And Alice can't see the future when you are involved in it," I added thinking out-loud now. "But, Jasper can still sense your emotions," I said staring at her hard. "He thinks that he can't control your emotions," I continued, "but you just admitted that he did at least once. It's because you changed things when you realized what he was doing didn't you? You can shield yourself from our talents."

"Yes," she admitted.

"Why can Jasper still sense your emotions?" I asked. "Why aren't you shielding that?"

"Once I realized that Jasper could change my emotions I started um....shielding it, but I was worried that if he all of a sudden couldn't sense my emotions anymore, one of you might realize that I could choose to block you," she admitted.

"Your blocking all of us aren't you?" I asked putting it all together. "Does that mean if you allowed me to, I could read your mind?" I asked excited by the possibilities.

"I'm not letting you into my head Cullen," she said flatly.

"But you could?" I persisted.

"Yes..." she was frowning slightly now.

"How would that work?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I would simply have to lift the um....shield."

"But your not going to?" I clarified.

"Not a chance," she agreed.

With a part of my mind I spent the rest of the drive plotting ways to get Bella to lower her shield. With the rest of it I decided to ask some more questions. Bella may not be willing to let me into her mind the way I was used to, but that didn't mean I couldn't do it the traditional way.

"What is your favorite color?" I asked her.

"What?" she asked thrown by the abrupt change of topic. I smirked happy to catch _her_ off guard for a change.

"What is you your favorite color?" I repeated.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked still surprised.

"Well you won't let me read your mind, and you won't answer any of my serious questions, so I was hoping if I asked a frivolous questions you might be willing to tell me something about yourself."

Bella threw back her head and laughed. Of course It wasn't really a frivolous question....at least not to me. I really did want to know. I wanted to know everything about the girl. But there was no way I could tell Bella that. I didn't want to scare her off on our first date.

"I love all colors except for green," she said.

"Thats not really an answer," I chided. I was frustrated that she would be elusive with even this small detail.

"No really," she said starting to laugh again. "I do love all the colors, but I am really starting to hate green. Green is like a parasite in Forks. There are supposed to be a lot of colors in nature, but green eats up them all up here. Sucks the life out of them and covers them all up with squishy fuzz. I keep having nightmares about a giant green blob eating everyone in Fork's and turning them into mossy green monsters."

I laughed as we pulled up to the end of the trail. "That would be bad," I agreed, putting Emmet's jeep in park. "There are plenty of monsters in Forks already."


	14. Chapter 11 part 1

"So...explain this to me again. You want to carry me to where your family plays baseball...piggy back...and your really not kidding?"

"Yes, yes, and no," I replied. We had already had this conversation three times and I was seriously beginning to consider just grabbing her and running.

"You know I'm not disabled. Quite capable of walking in fact," Bella pointed out helpfully.

"I know you can walk," I replied patiently. "Really slowly," I added under my breath.

Bella scowled at me. Had she heard that? "Why are you in such a hurry anyway?" she asked.

"The field is thirty miles away from this point. If we travel at human speed we won't get their until tomorrow, and _I_ have to go to school tomorrow."

"Oh...well thats different then, we can't have you missing school," Bella replied with mock horror.

I laughed and switched tactics, clearly logic was not going to work. "Please Bella?" I asked throwing my very best dazzle humans into submission smile. I had been practicing this for close to a century now, and except for Charlie I had an almost perfect success rate.

Bella blinked "Wh..what?" she asked.

I smiled wider. This was going to work. "Please let me carry you to the baseball field," I replied, softly blowing my breath in her face.

"Hmmm...," she replied.

I decided to take that as a yes and moved before she could change her mind--or make a more coherent statement. Lightning fast I carefully threw her on my back and started running.

"Wait!" Bella cried coming out of her daze quickly. I ignored her and kept running.

"Your a big cheater," Bella told me huffily in my ear after about a minute of running. Her arms were wound around my neck and she was holding on with what I imagined was a death grip for a human. I had a feeling that if _I _were human she would be strangling me. We came to a small stream and without thinking I jumped. Bella's grip tightened convulsively around me but then relaxed some when I effortlessly cleared the water without even jolting her. "I have to admit this is pretty amazing," she said speaking into my ear again. "If all else fails in life you can become Edward Cullen, the undead roller coaster."

I laughed at that. I was doing a pretty gentle lope through the forest and for a moment I wondered what she would think if I really let loose. On the other hand there was a good chance if I were running full out then it would be Bella that would come loose. I should probably tell her that she didn't need to speak directly into my ear. It wasn't as though I wouldn't be able to hear her. The sensation of her breath on my neck was pleasant, but unfortunately the scent that accompanied the breath made me want to devour her.

"Are we there yet?" Bella asked me in a fake whiny voice, but then she ruined the effect by laughing with sheer elation at our speed.

I smiled, pleased beyond expression that she was enjoying the one thing about my nature I took unstinting joy in. "Yes," I answered coming to a stop just outside the baseball field.

Bella began to extract herself from my back. Apparently it had been a while since she had ridden piggy-back because she was rather ungraceful about it. I tried to help, but ended up only hindering, and the end result was that Bella landed flat on her backside in the dirt. I froze anticipating her anger but then she surprised me again. Bella burst into laughter. A light, ringing laugh that made me want to laugh too.

I offered a hand to help her up. Still chuckling at herself she took it and gracefully this time rose to her feet. Grinning like idiots we walked into the clearing where my family was waiting for us.

Alice ran over to us. Her first instinct had been to hug Bella but instead she hung back unsure of Bella's reaction. Alice flashed Bella a tentative, almost guilty smile subtly asking for forgiveness for last months brushoff. Their was something very surreal about Alice acting tentative. She was usually so sure of herself and the future. Bella seemed a little amused but she smiled back genuinely. Their was a knowing look in her eye and she did seem to take some amusement in Alice's predicament, but their was also acceptance in the smile. This made sense. From what I had seen Bella was not the type to hold grudges. Without words Alice and Bella came to an understanding. They were friends again and my family drew a collective sigh of relief. While trying not to be too obvious about it, my family had been paying very close attention to this small reunion. They had hope that Bella's easy forgiveness would extend to them as well.

Alice handed me my baseball jersey. She had tried to make me wear it earlier to pick Bella up, but I had refused. I had not wanted to make Bella feel like she had no choice in our activity, or put any undue pressure on her to accept the baseball plan. My refusal to wear the jersey had doubly offended Alice. Once because I wasn't dressed appropriately, and secondly because I had the nerve to doubt her vision (or lack of vision as the case may be.)

Alice then surprised me by producing another jersey for Bella. She had overnighted a Diamond-Backs jersey from Phoenix Arizona with the intention to use it as a peace offering in case Bella had been less inclined to forgive her. Generally my family wore jerseys that either reminded us of our human lives or a favorite place where we had lived during our second life. Mine of course was a Chicago Cubs uniform.

While Bella and I pulled on our jerseys lightning lit the sky and a huge roar of thunder sounded. Bella jumped a little "Lets play ball," Emmet bellowed from across the field.

"We can only play when there is thunder," I told Bella.

"Your that loud?" she teased understanding immediately.

Esme came running up smiling excitedly at Bella. "Esme is going to referee this game," I explained to Bella. "She would like to keep you company while you watch."

"What? Your not going to let me play?" she asked teasing again.

"Probably not a good idea," I replied.

"C'mon Eddie," Emmet called again. "Your up."

The game progressed quickly. Bella and Esme chatted amicably and I did my best to not show-off. I couldn't help trying a little harder then usual though, which amused my family to no end. Fortunately they kept their amusement to themselves. I couldn't help wondering what Bella thought of vampire baseball so during a lull I ran up to Bella and Esme to ask. "So what do you think?" I enquired.

"Pretty cool," she answered. "But, I could totally play," she added teasing...but also a bit smug.

Rosalie had wandered up with Emmet who wanted to talk to Bella again. She snorted in derision at Bella's claim. "Don't make me laugh. You would be a complete waste of a position. You couldn't even play outfield. The only way you would ever catch a ball is if it knocked you out."

"Oh, I think I could catch it just fine," Bella replied coolly.

"Thats ridiculous," Rosalie taunted. "How?"

"Because the ball loves me," Bella replied easily.

"What?" Rosalie questioned. She snorted again, almost laughing with contempt. Esme was frowning at Rosalie's rudeness even though she thought Bella's claims were a bit fantastic as well.

"May I see the ball?" Bella asked politely.

Jasper lobed the ball to me and I gently handed it to Bella. He was amused by the entire conversation and a little intrigued by the certainty he could feel radiating from Bella.

"This ball," Bella told us, "loves me." She held the ball intently with both hands cupped firmly around it. Her arms were elevated, benediction like, in front of her. "It will do anything to find me," she added. "It wants to be in my hand, and it would never-ever hurt me."

None of us really knew how to react to this. _Edwards dating a loony_ Emmet was thinking. "Isn't it your turn to bat?" Bella asked Rosalie "I'll play outfield," she added walking off unhurriedly towards the trees bordering the edge of the clearing.

Emmet shrugged. "Why not humor the lunatic?" he asked softly.

"That ball better get no-where near her." I told Rosalie quietly and at my most threatening.

"How can I help it Edward?" Rosalie replied snottily. "Weren't you paying attention? The ball loves her."

I ground my teeth while Rosalie sashayed up to bat. Alice, who was pitching, was seriously considering balling her out on purpose for the first time in vampire baseball history. Everyone but Rose and Bella were tense as Alice reluctantly wound up for the pitch.

Rosalie put more power into her swing than I had ever seen her do before. The resounding crack echoed throughout the forest. The ball flew high and fast, and fortunately for Rosalie's well being, in the complete opposite direction that Bella was standing. I tensed to run after it mentally calculating the trajectory.

I was about to dash after the pop fly when the ball unexpectedly changed directions and hit a tree on the edge of the clearing hard. The ball ricocheted wildly from tree to tree quickly loosing momentum. Any of my family could probably have caught the ball at this point, but instead we all stood transfixed watching the bizarre show. The ball had moved steadily to where Bella stood calmly watching. It hit a tree directly over Bella's head, the final ricochet as the force behind Rosalie's hit was entirely gone now. Bella extended her hand never taking her eye off the ball and we all watched in fascination as the ball fell limply into Bella's outstretched palm. Bella smiled at Rosalie. "Your out," she said softly.

Normally I would have heard their minds long before they broke the clearing, but I had been too intent on the drama happening before my eyes. Three nomadic vampires entered the ball field from left field only a few feet from where Bella was standing. Their original intent had been to ask if they could play ball with us. They had heard Rosalie's booming hit. The leader smelt Bella instantly. Some part of his mind recognized that their must be some mistake, and that it was humans who were playing here, not vampires, but mostly he didn't care what the story was. His only true concern was that he was smelling the most delectable human blood he had encountered in his entire existence. Before my horrified eyes he lunged for Bella. Simultaneously, I roared in outrage, and ran with everything that was in me to intercept him. I knew that I would never make it on time.

* * *

I feel kind of mean. First this is a short half chapter and second huge cliffie. I will try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, I just wanted to write this one despite lack of time because I have been kind of looking forward to it. I've had it imagined out for awhile. Kind of what I wrote the rest to lead up to. Anyway lots of action and answers in the next chapter so stay tuned. Also please let me know what you think. I really love all of your reviews.


	15. Chapter 11 part 2

Hi. I am so sorry this took so long and that it is also too short. I know that it is completely cliche but you would not believe how crazy my life has been for the last few months. Anyway, thanks to those who have reviewed and are still reading. Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter Eleven Part 2

_Normally I would have heard their minds long before they broke the clearing but I had been too intent on the drama happening before my own eyes. Three nomadic vampires entered the ball field from left field only a few feet from where Bella was standing. Their original intent had been to ask if they could play ball with us....they had heard Rosalie's booming hit. The leader smelt Bella instantly. Some part of his mind recognized that their must be a mistake and that it was humans who were playing here, not vampires, but mostly he didn't care what the story was. His only true concern was that he was smelling the most delectable human blood he had encountered in his entire existence. Before my horrified eyes he lunged for Bella. Simultaneously, I roared in outrage, and ran with everything that was in me to intercept him. I knew that I would never make it in time._

I don't think that I would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. Mid-lunge it was as though the nomad hit a brick wall. He fell to the ground with a crash. Lightning storms had been circling our meadow all afternoon but at that instant they all converged blackening the sky. One unnatural bolt, the width of my arms around, erupted from the epicenter of the storm clouds and tore through the nomad instantly incinerating him. The strike lit up the area brighter than day for as far as I could see. The force of it knocked everyone in the clearing except Bella off their feet, and sent me flying, as I was now closest to the impact. When the lighting was gone a deep darkness was left on the field. The only light I could see emanated from Bella herself who was pulsing with it.

"James," the female vampire screamed. Incomprehension lashed through her mind as she stared dumbly at the the ash pile that used to be her mate. In her mind I saw the shock quickly turn to a raging desire to attack Bella, but the desire was overruled by an instinct so strong she was almost physically compelled to abide by it. The woman turned and fled. Her flame red hair was the last thing I could see as she virtually disappeared inside the trees. Her mind was focused only on escape for the short amount of time that she stayed within the range of my talent. It was uncanny to watch as the same instinct that had forced her to leave unerringly mapped out the quickest and safest route....a route that only those who knew the forest as well as my family and I would be expected to choose.

Watching the woman leave seemed to snap the third vampire out of his shock. I could see in his mind that he placed a high reliance on the female vampires instinct to leave. _I need to follow Victoria_ he was thinking. His thoughts showed a flavor of trust in the female vampire's flight similar to the faith we placed in Alice's vision. The compelling instinct I had witnessed in the female had to be a talent of sorts. A talent for escape.

I cut off the third vampire as he turned to follow the female. He crouched, prepared to fight through me but then backed down as I was immediately flanked by my entire family. Everyone was still a bit bewildered about what was happening, but not enough to allow another vampire to attack their brother. "Please, I mean you know harm," the third vampire begged for his life. I could see in his mind that he was sincere, albeit a bit panicky, and honestly just as confused as we were. Alice searched our future, and as best she could see with Bella's presence blocking her visions, she confirmed that he posed no immediate threat. I slowly stood erect and most of my family followed suit. They were actually more alarmed by the small human standing a hundred feet off, then by the vampire cowering before them. Jasper and Emmet were the last to stand. Emmet's extreme disappointment in missing a fight would have been comical at any other time.

The deep black clouds began to disperse and milky sunlight again lit the clearing. The pulsing light emanating from Bella diffused with the clouds and then snuffed out like a candle. Bella shakily sank to the ground placing her head between her knees. Distracted I left my family to deal with the remaining vampire and sank to my knees at her side. "Are you okay?" I asked gently.

Bella's laugh sounded weak. "This is nothing," she quipped, "You should see the other guy."

My laugh was a bit forced. Bella had begun convulsively shivering and medical terms like "shock" and "post traumatic stress syndrome" were starting to run through my head. "We should get you home," I stated a little grimly.

"No!" Bella was vehement. "I can't go home right now. Charlie will know that something happened. He will never let me out of his sight again."

I wasn't sure that was such a bad idea, but I was helpless to resist the pleading in her eyes. "What do you want to do then?" I asked uncertain.

"Just take me somewhere warm, where I can rest," she replied.

My Father had been quietly talking to the vampire, Laurent as he had identified himself. Laurent's mind was at war with itself. Partly he was intrigued and wanted to know more, but the need to flee was also strong. I could see the retreat need was winning. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but I knew that my father would let him go.

I picked up the girl ready to run. She felt limp in my arms but smiled at me anyway. I was still racking my brains trying to think of a safe "resting" place but I had decided that I could figure that out once I had Bella warm inside the jeep.

"Where are you going?" Jasper stood solidly in front of me blocking my path. I could see grim determination in his mind.

"I need to get Bella warm," I answered shortly, annoyed with Jasper's interference.

"No," Jasper stated firmly. "This ends here," he continued. "She is going talk. She is going to tell us who she is and what the hell that was."

"She's going into shock. I don't have time for this. Move," I replied.

Jasper growled low and feral. A challenge.

I wasn't sure what to do. Holding Bella would make it impossible to fight Jasper. And I didn't even want to think of the consequences to Jasper should he threaten Bella. "Jasper...," I started frustrated.

"It's okay," Bella broke in looking worriedly between us. "I will explain. But not here. Please can we go inside first?"

Carlisle interrupted at this point. Like myself he was becoming worried about Bella's condition. "Take her to the house Edward," he told me. "We will meet you there."

I nodded relieved. "We can talk at home," I told Jasper and took off running for the jeep.

I contemplated the coming discussion as I drove Bella to our home. I watched her carefully while I was driving, prepared to react quickly if I sensed a need (even though I wasn't sure what I would do anyway). Bella sat hunched next to me with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. I wasn't sure if she were trying to stay warm, or if her posture was defensive. Her head lolled against the rest and her eyes stayed firmly shut. I was frustrated again that I couldn't read her mind. I had no idea if she was still reacting to the events in the field, or simply avoiding talking to me. Either way, I was relieved when we left the dirt trail and came back to the main road where I could finally put on some speed. I calculated that we would be home in less than ten minutes. As angry as I was with Jasper for forcing the issue, I couldn't deny the excitement I felt knowing that I might finally be going to get some answers from the girl.

I carried Bella into a surprisingly warm house and onto the couch. Carlisle had blankets ready that he had warmed by the fire that he had started in our mostly for show grate. Our seldom used heater was running as well. I smiled gratefully at my father. Trust Carlisle to remember the "human" details.

My family were waiting all about the room. They were keeping quite for the moment while Bella settled into the warmth of the blankets, but I could feel their intensity, hear the questions humming in their minds. They mirrored the questions in mine.

Bella seemed more aware now. She glanced about the room taking in my family and I. A slight smirk crossed her face. She could sense our impatience.

"So what do you want to know?" Bella asked Jasper directly.

Jasper opened his mouth to ask his first question but I beat him to it. "Who is your mother?" I asked. I decided that we might as well get to the heart of the matter.


End file.
